Chrysler group is planning to spend $165 million to put up a 1 million sq. ft. body shop in their Sterling Heights factory in Michigan. The body shop will start making the mid-size sedan for Chrysler by 2013. At the moment, the factory is being utilized for the production of the Dodge Avenger and the Chrysler 200.

The recent announcement follows the December 2010 investment of the company on the Sterling Heights factory. Before the end of 2011 the car manufacturer announced an $850 million investment to fund a the new paint shop for the factory. Since 2009, Chrysler has injected around $3.5 billion to improve its factories in the United States.

For Chrysler employees, the plant in Sterling Heights have become a symbol of how the company is trying to comeback from the struggle. Cerberus Capital Management, which previously owned the company opted to close the said factory but Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler CEO decided to take a different path and keep it operational.

The midsize sedan of Chevrolet will be built using the platform of Fiat reworked for the market in the United States.

The investment of the company will give way to the construction of the body shop, installation of advanced technology conveyors, and more equipment.

The Sterling Heights plant was not pointed to specifically in the recent UAW contract which is due for ratification of the rank and file. It was also not made clear if the most recent investment is included in the $1.3 billion investment that is to be poured into their U.S. factories as outlined in the tentative contract.