Chrysler Pacifica production kicks off at Windsor Assembly Plant

Production for the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is underway at the Windsor Assembly Plant, the company announced Monday evening.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles introduced the Pacifica minivan at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich. in January.

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The car is expected to hit dealer showrooms later this spring. The company touts almost 40 new innovations to the minivan, a vehicle Chrysler invented more than 30 years ago.

The Pacifica is designed to replace the company's Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, though the company says Grand Caravans will still be built as long as there isbuyer demand.

Since the redesignedminivan was first revealed in Detroit, optimism has been high it will be a hit with consumers.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, FCA Canada CEO and president Reid Bigland and Dino Chiodo, the president of Unifor Local 444, which represents unionized workers at the plant all expressed hope the minivan will sell.

"We think this is a hit," Chiodo told CBC News at the auto show. "This is a beautiful vehicle and we think that we're going to sell lots of them because people can see the work that's gone into it and I think people will really appreciate what it has to offer," he said.

A few weeks later, at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Bigland said the company would hire 1,200 employees to both build the new minivan and replace jobs lost through attrition.