FCA’s Termoli plant has been allocated two new engines, the automaker said.
Both are for future Alfa Romeo models. The first is a high output I4 and the second a Ferrari-derived six, both developed specifically for the brand.
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With capacity for the two engines of about 200,000 units, the plant will be capable of meeting approximately half of the total volumes projected in Alfa Romeo’s product plan for 2018.
Work to retool the plant is already under way. A ceremony at the plant marked the installation of the first piece of equipment on one of the future production lines: a Comau cylinder head tooling machine.
FCA will spend about EUR500m (US$541.6m) on design, development and engineering of the engines and building the new production lines.
The work is set to be completed within six months during which employees will also undergo the training.
The new production activities will bring all workers on temporary layoff at Termoli, which employs 2,400 in total, back to work. Over the next few months 50 new young people will be hired for a third shift in transmission production.
“This high tech project is an integral part of our bet on Alfa Romeo,” FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne told plant workers.
“It is because of your technical know-how and capabilities that we are allocating production here at Termoli. It also represents an opportunity for you to show the world what you can achieve.”
