(Adds detail on Pacifica program, background on auto production
and TPP)
By Allison Lampert
TORONTO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (N:FCAU)
FCAU.N FCHA.MI said on Thursday that it has invested C$3.7
billion since September 2014 and created 1,200 jobs in Canada to
develop and produce its next-generation minivan.
The Pacifica, which is also being developed as Fiat
Chrysler's first hybrid electric minivan, is in early production
stages at the company's plant in Windsor, Ontario, said Reid
Bigland, president and chief executive of FCA Canada.
FCA had not previously detailed how much it was spending to
make the new minivan, which was unveiled at the Detroit auto
show in January [nL2N14U0HS}. The Pacifica program brings Fiat
Chrysler employment in Canada to just over 11,000, he said.
"It's only pilots right now," Bigland told reporters at the
Canadian International Auto Show. "We should start to ship them
out to our dealers in Canada and the United States in May of
this year, give or take."
The investment comes at a time when the Canadian auto sector
is facing headwinds, as manufacturers shift production to lower
cost jurisdictions like Mexico. Auto executives at the show said
concerns like the Canadian government's decision to tax federal
loans to manufacturers and the country's trade policy would
impact future investment in domestic production.
Autoworkers and Canadian divisions of Detroit's automakers
met the federal government in December over the Trans-Pacific
Partnership, which would phase out tariffs on Japanese imports
to Canada in five years, compared with a phase out over 25 years
in the United States.
Canada's Liberal government is now reviewing whether to
ratify the TPP, which was negotiated by former Prime Minister
Stephen Harper's Tory government.
"We are very concerned about the TPP and the impact that it
has on the Canadian automobile industry," Bigland said.
"Trade policy matters - especially with autos," said Dianne
Craig, chief executive of Ford Motor (N:F) Co F.N of Canada, in an
earlier interview on Thursday. "We were very disappointed with
the outcome of TPP."
Steve Carlisle, president of General Motors (N:GM) of Canada
GM.N , said GM has not yet taken a position on the TPP.
($1 = 1.3926 Canadian dollars)