Work Continues On FCA’s New Mack Avenue Assembly Plant:
New Vehicle Test Track Is Taking Shape...
As other automakers continue to close North American plants, opting instead to build more vehicles in Mexico, or Overseas, FCA is keeping full steam ahead on their new Mack Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
Construction crews have been working hard readying the new plant for the production of the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee 3 row SUVs and recently started work on the plant’s new test track. The track will measure 1,300 feet long, be wide enough at one point to accommodate four lanes of traffic, have a figure 8 section to test vehicle articulation, and be able to replicate ten driving conditions found on an ordinary commute such as patched pavement, potholes, and maintenance hole covers. The goal, of course, is to ensure that all vehicles rolling off the line are free of buzzes, squeaks, and rattles before being shipped to dealers.
Two lanes will be set up as steering wheel centering lanes, which will validate each vehicle’s wheel alignment, and the entire 95,000 square foot facility will be built under one roof. This will be FCA’s second facility of this nature in the U.S., the first of which was built at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) to test the all-new 2019 Ram 1500.
We are eager to see the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee and its 3-row sibling and applaud FCA’s decision to increase vehicle production in the United States. When operational, the Mack Avenue Assembly Plant will create 3,850 new jobs in Detroit.
