Chrysler Plans To Add 1,250 Jobs, Invest $374 Million In Indiana

There's major business news in Indiana today:

"Chrysler will hire 1,250 new workers and spend $374 million to upgrade transmission plants in central Indiana — the only place in North America where the automaker makes transmissions," the Detroit Free Press reports from Kokomo.

The Associated Press says Chrysler is "investing millions in the Kokomo area to build fuel-efficient eight- and nine-speed automatic transmissions. Chrysler plans to use a new nine-speed transmission in the Jeep Cherokee midsize SUV and in the Dodge Dart compact. The Cherokee will replace the aging Jeep Liberty later this year."

As NPR's Sonari Glinton reported back in December 2011, "Fiat came to Chrysler's rescue after the American company filed for bankruptcy and, despite some bumps along the way, the Italian car maker has helped Chrysler to focus on products and financial stability. ... [And] after its bankruptcy, Chrysler repaid nearly $8 billion in bailout loans it got from the Canadian and U.S. governments."