Tuesday, February 06, 2007

New car may not save shift at Chrysler

Globe and Mail Update

The Chrysler Group is expected to dole out a gift to its Canadian operations next week, but may couple it with grim news in a restructuring plan for its North American operations that could wipe out as many as 10,000 jobs.

The unit of DaimlerChrysler AG is expected to announce that its Brampton, Ont., plant will build the Dodge Challenger muscle car — but that may not be enough to maintain the third shift of production at the plant, sources said Monday.

The Challenger will come on stream in April, 2008, the sources said, but its small volume of about 30,000 vehicles a year is not enough to offset a slump in demand for the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum made in Brampton.

“They could probably get away with two shifts right now,” said one source familiar with the Brampton plant, which employs about 4,200 people. Eliminating the third shift would wipe out about 900 jobs.

New car may not save shift at Chrysler

Globe and Mail Update

The Chrysler Group is expected to dole out a gift to its Canadian operations next week, but may couple it with grim news in a restructuring plan for its North American operations that could wipe out as many as 10,000 jobs.

The unit of DaimlerChrysler AG is expected to announce that its Brampton, Ont., plant will build the Dodge Challenger muscle car — but that may not be enough to maintain the third shift of production at the plant, sources said Monday.

The Challenger will come on stream in April, 2008, the sources said, but its small volume of about 30,000 vehicles a year is not enough to offset a slump in demand for the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum made in Brampton.

“They could probably get away with two shifts right now,” said one source familiar with the Brampton plant, which employs about 4,200 people. Eliminating the third shift would wipe out about 900 jobs.

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