USA TODAY (Tipton, US) - A rebounding Chrysler Group is poised to create up to 1,350 jobs in north-central Indiana — one of the largest manufacturing jobs announcements this state in years.

Three years after emerging from bankruptcy, the automaker revealed plans Monday to spend $162 million to bring the never-finished Getrag Transmission plant here to life and hire 850 people to run it.

The decision means Chrysler will finish what it started, though on a less-grand scale than first proposed in pre-recession times.

In addition, as many as 500 new jobs might also be in the offing 20 miles northeast in Kokomo, where the automaker has asked city officials for tax breaks to allow it to expand its transmission operations.

The size of the proposed Chrysler reinvestment in north-central Indiana's old-line auto belt region is comparable to assembly plant deals by Honda in Greensburg, Ind., and Toyota in Princeton, Ind.

"In the last 40 years, there have been very, very few big plant openings like this," said Michael Hicks, director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.

Chrysler abandoned the former Getrag Transmission factory before it could be opened about four years ago. It was built for a workforce of 1,400.

"If it all works out, it'll be a big positive for Tipton County," said County Commissioner Phil Heron, who joined the vote that approved a $2.5 million property tax abatement for Chrysler for the new transmission plant.

The job-hiring plans were muted Monday with no official fanfare or news conferences with beaming politicians because Chrysler is cautious. The company hasn't yet bought back the Getrag plant and is still lining up local government approvals and economic incentives.

Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson confirmed that Chrysler plans to hire 850 people and invest $162 million in Tipton but wouldn't divulge expansion plans in Kokomo.

Several Kokomo officials didn't return calls to comment on Chrysler's expansion plans there.

Chrysler, which took on Italian automaker Fiat as partner as part of its restructuring in bankruptcy, finds itself in an expansion mode after racking up 32 consecutive months of year-over-year sales growth for its cars, vans and trucks.

"There's certainly demand for our product," Tinson said. "And you can't drive cars without transmissions."

More transmissions are needed for Chrysler's full product line, she said.

Earlier this year, Chrysler also announced plans to spend more than $200 million at an engine plant in Detroit and add nearly 4,000 workers at two plants in Michigan and one in Illinois.

A Boulder, Colo., real estate investment and development firm, W.W. Reynolds Cos., bought the 800,000-square-foot Getrag plant and has it listed for sale for $39.5 million. A Reynolds executive did not return a call for comment.

Tipton thought it had a new user for the plant when a solar panel manufacturer, Abound Solar, lined up a $400 million federal loan guarantee to produce solar panels there. But the company dropped its plans to buy the plant after it filed for bankruptcy in June.

Chrysler wants to act fast, installing new machinery starting in mid-2013 and opening the plant by late 2014, said Linda Williamson, interim director of Tipton County Economic Development.

"We're thrilled to death with the opportunity for 850 folks to have new jobs in Tipton County," Williamson said.

Tinson said most of the new hiring would be for union jobs.

Hicks said Chrysler's hiring also will create hundreds of additional jobs at suppliers that sell materials and parts used in transmissions.

"A plant like that ... needs chemicals and machinery ... raw steel and aluminum," he said. "There are going to be a significant number of suppliers" that will benefit.

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