Chrysler Group gave Detroit another reason to celebrate the official start of production today of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee by announcing that it will hire 1,100 more workers by July to add a second shift at the Jefferson North plant in Motown that's building the Jeep flagship. The Grand Cherokee is Chrysler's key (and only all-new) vehicle launch this year and it showed confidence in the SUV by already announcing the second shift to boost capacity. The Grand Cherokee is due on sale in June.
The workers will be new hires, which means under the union contract that Chrysler can pay them about $14 per hour, about half the rate of current UAW workers.
Among VIPs there to celebrate were Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, UAW officials and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm, happy to have new auto jobs for Michigan, took a shot at rival states down South and their growing Asian and European automaker transplant operations. The new Jeep "is not made in some Southern cornfield plant," she told the Associated Press. "It's made right here."
