Stellantis has put an Indiana transmission plant up for sale only a decade after predecessor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles opened it to help build more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Tipton Transmission Plant produced the nine-speed transmission for the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan before being idled last June. The 781,500-square-foot plant north of Indianapolis had approximately 300 employees when production ended, and its permanent closure was included in Stellantis’ labor agreement with the UAW last fall.
The automaker said it transferred all of the plant’s employees to other sites in the area.
“Stellantis continues to look for opportunities to improve efficiency and optimize its manufacturing footprint to ensure our future competitiveness in today’s rapidly changing global market,” the company said in a statement. The Indiana Business Journal reported the factory being put on the market on Thursday.
Construction of the plant started in 2007 as a joint venture between Chrysler Group and German transmission maker Getrag. The deal later fell apart, sending Getrag’s U.S. manufacturing subsidiary into bankruptcy protection in 2008, shortly before Chrysler’s 2009 bankruptcy.
Chrysler bought the empty plant in 2013 for $162 million, promising about half as many jobs as the partnership with Getrag had planned to create there. Production began in April 2014.