Chrysler will cut 13,000 jobs, close Delaware plant

Dale Jewett | | Automotive News / February 14, 2007 - 9:39 am The Chrysler group said today that it will cut 13,000 jobs; close its Newark, Del., assembly plant, cut 400,000 units of annual production capacity and spend $3 billion on new powertrains.

The 13,000 job cuts will occur through 2009. Of that total, 11,000 jobs will be hourly workers, with 9,000 jobs cut in the United States and 2,000 in Canada. The Chrysler group also plans to cut 2,000 salaried jobs -- 1,000 each this year and in 2008.

In addition to closing the Delaware plant in 2009 that builds the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs, the automaker also will cut a shift at the Warren, Mich., plant this year that builds pickups. Next year, it will cut a shift at the St. Louis South assembly plant that builds minivans. It also will close a parts distribution center in Cleveland in December.