Chrysler Cuts Minivan Production

Chrysler LLC’s minivan plant in Windsor, ON, Canada, will move to a 2-shift operation effective June 24.

Chrysler had said it would eliminate one shift of production while also cutting 3,000 jobs and chopping three models from its lineup – cost-cutting measures outlined for the U.S. Treasury Dept. in a viability plan submitted Feb. 17.

The auto maker’s eligibility for taxpayer-funded aid was contingent on the plan’s submission.

Windsor, Chrysler’s lone source of minivans since the Oct. 31 closure of a plant in St. Louis, has been operating on three shifts.

“Given today’s severe economic environment and continued lack of consumer credit, which has affected the minivan market as well, we cannot sustain a 3-shift operation at Windsor as we continue to work towards the appropriate level of plant utilization,” Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president-manufacturing, says in a statement.

“We will work closely with the Canadian Auto Workers union to manage the shift reduction in a socially responsible manner,” Ewasyshyn adds.

The move will put about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff.

Chrysler also is in talks to obtain aid from the Canadian federal and Ontario provincial governments as it fights to stay afloat in a rapidly slumping market.

U.S. light-vehicle sales plunged nearly 39% last month for the market’s worst performance since 1981.