Chrysler to Close Landmark Toledo Jeep Plant

Chrysler Group will close the 96-year-old Jeep Parkway plant in Toledo, OH, once the last painted Jeep Wrangler body is completed today, June 30.

The factory, the longest-operating automotive plant in the U.S., currently paints Wrangler bodies and ships them to Chrysler’s nearby plant for final assembly.

About 250 workers currently are employed at the facility, which reportedly has produced about 11 million vehicles since it was built in 1910.

Part of the factory, which housed a museum and production facilities that built Jeeps and military equipment during World War II, was demolished in 2002. The rest of the plant reportedly will succumb to the same fate, but Chrysler has yet to disclose a timeline for the demolition.

Production of the all-new ’07 Jeep Wrangler begins in July at the Toledo South assembly complex. Magna International Inc.’s Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG subsidiary will be responsible for painting Wrangler bodies at the new plant.