Chrysler plants busy, but vehicles don't sell
Chrysler plants busy, but vehicles don't sell
Workers in Detroit and Windsor puzzled by OT
Workers at the plants that make some of the vehicles that the Chrysler Group is having the hardest time selling were scheduled to be hard at work Saturday, earning overtime to build more.
The OT might make their paychecks a little bigger, but workers at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit and across the river at Windsor Assembly say it worries them that they continue to build more vehicles just like those that already crowd storage areas near their plants.
Jefferson North builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Commander. Windsor builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country.
Sales of the Jeep Commander, which was new last year, were up in October with the help of incentives of as much as $8,000, but they continue to fill inventories, dealers say. The Power Information Network reports that Commanders that sold in October sat on dealer lots for an average of 157 days -- more than five months -- before the sale.
Grand Cherokees averaged 120 days on dealer lots before selling. The Grand Caravan averaged 133 days, the Pacifica, 142 and the Town & Country 117.
Chrysler acknowledged that the two plants are among those running on overtime. The other plants running overtime make the brisk-selling new Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Compass and Dodge Caliber.
Production schedules, Chrysler spokeswoman Michele Tinson said, are not based solely on demand but also are influenced by estimates of future demand.
"We are continuously reviewing our operations to support future volume levels, plant loading, shift patterns and line rates as influenced by market demand and other industry or company factors," she said.
Chrysler reported a $1.5-billion loss in the three-month period ending Sept. 30. It blamed the loss on high inventory levels that built up after consumer demand shifted away from its truck-heavy lineup.
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