DUNDEE, Mich. — Stellantis is preparing a months-long, temporary layoff of hundreds of workers at the Dundee Engine Plant so tooling can be changed over to produce a new four-cylinder engine with a traditional hybrid feature.

Layoffs are expected to affect 611 workers, said Dundee Village Manager Mike Hoffmeister, who was appointed in January after previously serving as residential services director for Ypsilanti Township.

In a statement, Stellantis spokesman Ann Marie Fortunate said the layoffs would begin Sunday and be phased in over the subsequent two weeks.

Stellantis previously announced that it would spend about $83 million at the plant to transition to the new engine.

“Stellantis reaffirms its investment and commitment to the Dundee Engine Plant and is preparing the facility to retool for production of a new engine starting in 2024,” the statement said. “As part of that process, certain UAW-represented employees will be temporarily laid off until the retooling is completed.”

The company filed a federal worker layoff notice with the state of Michigan and Village of Dundee in advance of the layoffs. The United Auto Workers represent hourly workers at the plant.

The plant is about 25 miles north of Toledo.

Mr. Hoffmeister said the new investment in Dundee Engine solidifies future work for many residents as well as people from the region who commute daily to Dundee to build engines there.

“It’s definitely one of our biggest employers, and many of the people who work there live in Dundee,” he said.

The layoffs are expected to exceed six months, Stellantis said in its federal layoff notice.

Michael Miller, president of UAW Local 723 in Monroe representing workers at Dundee Engine, referred all questions to officials at the UAW International union, who did not respond to a request for comment.

While the changeover takes place, the other half of the plant will remain open and continue to build engines, Mr. Hoffmeister said.

That operating side of the plant produces Stellantis’ popular 3.6-liter, V-6 Pentastar Upgrade engine. That engine is used in the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and the Jeep Grand Cherokee L.

The engine that is coming is a new 1.6-liter, I-4 turbocharged engine with direct fuel injection and flexibility for hybrid-electric vehicle applications, Stellantis said.

It is based on a current Stellantis production engine in Europe. The Dundee engine will power two future North American hybrid vehicle models. Production is expected to begin in early 2025, Stellantis said.

The engine being discontinued is the Tigershark 2.4-liter I-4 engine.

The investment in Dundee is some consolation to an earlier effort by the village to land a new Stellantis EV battery plant that ended up slated for Kokomo, Ind.

The village made a bid for the battery plant on a large parcel at Ann Arbor Trail and Ty Circle, close to the Dundee Engine Plant and other businesses, Mr. Hoffmeister said.

That parcel already has water and sewer and was primed to go for the purpose, he said.

Stellantis announced last year that it is building a $2.5 billion EV battery plant in Kokomo in a joint venture with Samsung SDI. The plant, which will employ 1,400, is slated to begin operations in 2025.

First Published August 30, 2023, 5:58 p.m.