Brampton Assembly

Brampton Assembly is a Chrysler automobile factory located at 2000 Williams Parkway East Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Originally built by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for US$260 million, in what was then called Bramalea, Ontario township, the manufacturing plant was specially designed for building the Eagle Premier. Its role since has primarily been to assemble full-sized Chrysler products.

Not to be confused with Brampton Assembly (AMC).

Brampton Assembly
Built1985
LocationBrampton, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates43.752°N 79.718°W / 43.752; -79.718
IndustryAutomotive
Products
Employees3,192 (3,008 hourly, 184 salaried) on two shifts[1]
Area2,950,000 sq ft (274,000 m2)
Address
  • 2000 Williams Parkway East
  • Brampton, Ontario, Canada

A previous American Motors facility also known as "Brampton Assembly" was located at Kennedy Road/Steeles Avenue in Brampton. It was built and operated by American Motors and then Chrysler from 1961 to 1992. The plant assembled American Motors and Jeep vehicles until it was closed in 1992, sold off for warehouse use, and later torn down and replaced by commercial/retail development including a Lowe's store.

History

In June 1984, American Motors established an agreement with the governments of Ontario and Canada to build a new assembly plant.[2] Both the national and provincial governments loaned AMC CA$100 million each to build the CA$764 million facility.[2] The agreement also included a royalty to the governments equal to 1% of the sales price of every vehicle produced at the facility.[2]

The infrastructure builder EllisDon Construction completed the US$260 million (US$639,839,846 in 2019 dollars [3]) plant and associated buildings.[4] The factory was opened by AMC in 1986 as Bramalea Assembly, a state-of-the-art robotics-based assembly facility with 2,950,000 square feet (274,000 m2) of floor space located on 269 acres (108.9 ha) specifically designed to produce the Eagle Premier.

The production line speed was initially about 400 cars per shift (54 jobs per hour) with only one shift scheduled.[5] There were frequent layoffs at this new factory, while AMC's old Brampton plant, located at Kennedy Road, worked steadily to produce Jeep Wranglers.[5]

This facility was acquired (along with the rest of AMC) by Chrysler in August 1987. The factory was ranked top in Chrysler's 1988 quality audit of cars produced in each of the automaker's plants.[2]

Production of the Chrysler LH platform cars began in June 1992 and continued with the updated LH cars in 1997. Production switched to the rear-wheel drive Chrysler LX platform cars in January 2004. The retooling for the LX platform was described as a "a low-budget effort", as Chrysler was experiencing some hardships at the time. Robots in the body shop were hand-me-downs from other plants. The paint shop was said to be the oldest FiatChrysler had in North America.[6]

The attached Brampton Satellite Stamping, which opened in 1991, was built for the launch of the Chrysler LH platform.

At that time, Brampton Assembly operated with three shifts of production. It is the city of Brampton's largest employer, with over 4,200 people working there.

On 19 July 2007, Chrysler Group announced an investment of US$1.2 billion in the Brampton plant for upgrades to the Chrysler 300 series, Dodge Magnum, and Dodge Charger, as well as a $500 million manufacturing investment to prepare for European-market LX platform product loading.[7]

On 16 August 2007, the one-millionth LX rear-wheel-drive vehicle platform rolled-off Brampton Assembly's production line.[8]

On 1 November 2007, Chrysler LLC announced that it was ending the third shift in Brampton, with the loss of 1,000 direct jobs, and declared that production of the Dodge Magnum in Brampton would end in early 2008.[9]

On 1 May 2009, both the Brampton Assembly and Windsor Assembly plants were shut down as a result of Chrysler's bankruptcy protection filing on 30 April 2009, in the United States, affecting about 2,700 employees at the Brampton Assembly and 4,400 at the Windsor Assembly. A Chrysler parts plant in Etobicoke, Toronto operated until 10 May 2009, when it was closed down for 30 to 60 days, affecting 300 employees, while the company through restructuring under court-ordered creditor protection.[10]

After the reorganization, Chrysler announced the launch of new models of the 300 and Charger to be produced in the Brampton assembly plant, beginning in 2010.[11]

The factory began production of the redesigned 2011 Chrysler 300 in January 2011. At this time, total employment was 2,871 (2,733 hourly; 138 salaried), working two shifts.[12]

In 2012, employees at the Chrysler factories in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario ratified the CAW's labor agreement by an overwhelming majority, without any information from the automaker about plans for new products or investment at either plant.[13] As of December 2012, the Brampton Assembly Plant is the single largest employer in Canada's 11th largest city.[14]

On 19 August 2014, the first Challenger SRT Hellcat (VIN #700001) rolled off the assembly line.[15] It sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas auction for $825,000 that benefitted Opportunity Village, a non-profit charity for those with intellectual disabilities in the Las Vegas area.[16] Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, bought the 707-hp "pony car" for his collection.[15]

The plant earned "bronze status" in 2015 for its work in implementing "World Class Manufacturing" (WCM), a "methodology that focuses on eliminating waste, increasing productivity, and improving quality and safety in a systematic and organized way."[17]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced in May 2019 of investments in new and existing assembly plants in Michigan "after intense political pressure in the U.S. to increase domestic manufacturing."[18] This strategy could be an opportunity for Canadian parts suppliers, but also mean cuts in production at FCA's facilities in Ontario that include Brampton Assembly.[19] Although there is still demand for the models produced by Brampton Assembly, "the market has gone really soft for cars, especially for sedans" and future FCA products may not use the platform currently made for the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger.[19]

Current production
2007 Dodge SuperBee number 0004 of 1000 and 0427 of 1000
2009 Dodge Challenger

Former products
Eagle Premier
1996 Chrysler Concorde
Dodge Magnum

Annual production
  • 1988 = 59,068
  • 1989 = 33,904
  • 1990 = 24,676
  • 1991 = 18,133
  • 1992 = 50,660
  • 1993 = 256,754
  • 1994 = 256,211
  • 1995 = 188,782
  • 1996 = 238,965
  • 1997 = 204,137
  • 1998 = 300,866
  • 1999 = 338,921
  • 2000 = 291,884
  • 2001 = 198,965
  • 2002 = 201,723
  • 2003 = 140,642
  • 2004 = 209,045
  • 2005 = 318,536
  • 2006 = 314,161
  • 2007 = 273,285
  • 2008 = 210,704
  • 2009 = 121,715 (Bankruptcy Year)
  • 2010 = 163,257
  • 2011 = 194,631
  • 2012 = 240,193
  • 2013 = 244,771
  • 2014 = 222,829
  • 2015 = 253,230
  • 2016 = 237,483
  • 2017 = 231,816
  • 2018 = 233,261
  • 2019 = 202,447

Total production through 2019 = 6,475,655

Notes
  1. "Fact Sheet: Brampton Assembly Plant and Brampton Satellite Stamping Plant". FCA North America. January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  2. Rubenstein, James M. (1992). The changing US auto industry: a geographical analysis. Taylor & Francis. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-415-05544-4. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. "Chrysler Corporation Assembly Plant AMC". EllisDon Corporation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  5. "The History of Bramptons Largest Union Local". Canadian Auto Workers Local 1285. 18 May 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  6. Boudette, Neal. "'Do or die' time as FCA's Brampton plant awaits investment". Autonews. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. "Chrysler Group to invest $1.2 bln in Brampton assembly plant". Reuters. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  8. "Brampton sets production milestone". Wheels Canada. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  9. "Chrysler Brampton Assembly Plant Job Cuts". The Brampton News. 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  10. "Chrysler Canada assembly plants shut down". CBC.ca. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  11. "New Chrysler Business Plan Promising News for Canadian Workers, CAW President says". Canadian Auto Workers. 4 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  12. Fact Sheet: Brampton Assembly Plant and Brampton Satellite Stamping Plant, Chrysler Corporate, January 2011
  13. Kreindler, Derek (1 October 2012). "CAW Workers Ratify Chrysler Agreement As The Countdown To 2016 Begins". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  14. "Units". Canadian Auto Workers Local 1285. 14 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  15. Lingeman, Jake (29 September 2014). "First Challenger SRT Hellcat Sells for $825,000". Autoweek. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  16. Vijayenthiran, Viknesh (29 September 2014). "First production 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat". Motor Authority. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  17. "The FCA Brampton Assembly plant awarded bronze status". Canadian Metalworking. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  18. Bickis, Ian (28 February 2019). "FCA invests big in Michigan as analysts question future of Brampton plant". The Star. Toronto. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  19. Flavelle, Dana (15 May 2019). "FCA's U.S. expansion stokes fears for Brampton". Automotive News Canada. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
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