Fiat Chrysler to invest $202 million in Poland, says Deputy PM

Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler will invest 755 million zlotys ($202.55 million) in its plant in Tychy in Poland, where new hybrid and electric Jeep, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo models are going to be built, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said on Tuesday.

The investment comes as a boost to developing Europe’s largest economy, which is hoping a switch to electric vehicles can help its auto sector to compete with regional rivals including the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

“Modern, hybrid and electric cars of the Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands will start to leave the factory in Tychy in 2022,” Gowin wrote on Twitter.

Gowin said there could be more investment in the plant in the future but gave no information about it.

Fiat Chrysler, which is planning a $38 billion merger with French rival PSA to create the world’s No.4 automaker, said that early preparations for the expansion and modernization of the plant started in 2020.

The plant located in Poland’s industrial southern region of Silesia is one of the company’s largest and presently employs around 2,500 people.

The automaker confirmed that new hybrid and electric Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo models would be built in Tychy.

It said the aim was to carry out the mass production of the first of the three new passenger car models for the group’s brands in the second half of 2022.

Under a 2018-2022 plan, FCA vowed to invest 9 billion euros in electrification as part of investment plans totalling 45 billion euros.