The Trenton North Engine Plant opened in 1952 and underwent a major expansion in 1969. Trenton engine was the site chosen for production of the 2.2 L four-cylinder engine which debuted in 1980 in the K-cars. The factory was expanded again in 1985 with a $150 million investment to add production of the 2.5 L four-cylinder in a area formerly used for production of the Chrysler Slant 6 engine. The Trenton Engine Plant produced all B and RB Chrysler Big Block V-8 Engines from their introduction in 1957 until their demise in 1979. In 1988, Chrysler sold much of the machining equipment, as well as a license to the design, to First Auto Works of China. The Trenton plant largely switched to the new Chrysler 3.3 engine production, while FAW continued to build the 2.2. Daimler Chrysler reportedly invested $297 million in 2005 to expand the Trenton Engine plant to prepare to build a new 4.0 L version of the SOHC V6 and to revitalize the 3.8 line. The plant ceased building engines in May 2011 and Chrysler announced that it would invest $114 million to repurpose one-fifth or nearly 400,000 square feet of the plant for the production of core components for the PentastarV-6 engine. In November 2012, the Company announced that it would invest an additional $40 million to add a flexible production line that can run both the Pentastar engine and the Tigershark engine. In May 2013, Trenton began producing the 3.6-liter Pentastar.
Trenton Engine South Plant
In 2007 Chrysler announced a new engine plant to produce the Pentastar V6 engine. It has the annual capacity of 440,000 engines. The new facility is LEED Gold certified, with features such as Zero-Waste-to-Landfill processes, the use of native grasses and trees on the property, higher performance insulation and more efficient manufacturing processes, fluorescent lighting, and efficient heating and cooling systems. Overall, Chrysler expects to save approximately US$1,300,000 annually on energy costs while reducing annual CO2 emissions by 12,000 metric tons. Current product:
