59,000 PENDING ORDERS

Toledo Jeep plant cranks up production amid surging customer demand

Chrysler and its on-site suppliers are nearly done hiring 80 temporary employees to help at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex, where workers also are putting in extra time to fill about 50,000 orders for the higher-volume Dodge Nitro. ( THE BLADE ) Zoom | Photo Reprints

By JULIE M. McKINNON
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

Despite operating six 20-hour days a week on overtime for more than two months, DaimlerChrysler AG's new Jeep Wrangler plant can't keep up with demand.

So, starting this weekend, the North Toledo plant partially run by suppliers will add occasional Sundays to its production schedule to help fill about 59,000 pending Wrangler orders from customers and dealers, mostly for the four-door Unlimited model, union and company officials said yesterday. Those orders represent roughly three quarters of the total number of Wranglers sold nationwide last year. "We've got a good problem," Dan Henneman, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 12's Jeep unit, told The Blade yesterday.

Zoom | Photo Reprints

The redesigned Wrangler's success is welcome at Yark Automotive Group in Sylvania Township, which has one of the largest Jeep dealerships nationwide.

Yark Jeep recently had six requests from other dealers for a top-of-the-line $33,000 Unlimited Rubicon it got in and quickly sold, managers said.

Customers ordering now will have to wait until next year for any four-door models.

"They definitely have a high demand," said Dave Doster, a manager at the dealership. "They've done such a great job with it."

Chrysler and its on-site suppliers are nearly done hiring 80 temporary employees to help at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex, where workers also are putting in extra time to fill about 50,000 orders for the higher-volume Dodge Nitro, said Michele Tinson, Chrysler spokesman.

Zoom | Photo Reprints

The complex, which also makes the soft-selling Jeep Liberty, has no laid-off workers to fill jobs. Sunday shifts are uncommon at Toledo Jeep. Employees working those days get paid double-time. The average Chrysler worker makes $27 an hour, or $54 an hour on Sundays. On Saturdays, they are paid $40.50 an hour. Ms. Tinson declined to say how much Chrysler's temporary workers will make, but one union official said typically they start at $18 an hour for regular pay. But hiring temporary help, mostly for Chrysler and Wrangler production, doesn't sit well with the union. Voluntary overtime can be filled by Chrysler workers from the complex's five-year-old plant, where some started building Nitros on the Election Day holiday this month and on a Sunday this month, Mr. Henneman said. "We've got enough of our people to work it," he said. "The product should be built by the people in the plant." The entire complex of factories has more than 4,500 employees, including about 1,100 people working for suppliers. It builds the Jeep Liberty, sales of which are down this year, in the same plant as the Nitro. Chrysler in July began building the redesigned 2007 Wrangler at a $900 million plant, where on-site chassis, body, and paint suppliers run three of four factories. Those suppliers have had to boost their overtime as well, Ms. Tinson said. Workers are scheduled to build Wranglers and Nitros this Sunday, and volunteers for both sport-utility vehicles are being sought for next weekend, Mr. Henneman said. The Liberty and Nitro plant has been working three production shifts since August and putting in Saturday overtime, too. Besides offering the first four-door version of the iconic Wrangler, the 2007 model has increased ground clearance, enhanced solid axles, a 3.8-liter V-6 engine with 205 horsepower, more space, and other features that make it brawnier and more civilized at the same time. Last month, Toledo Jeep built 6,194 Wrangler Unlimiteds and 4,124 Wranglers, which have the traditional two doors. That's up nearly 14 percent from 9,082 Wranglers built in October, 2005, at nearby factories now being demolished or used for other purposes. The complex built 14,796 Nitros last month, production of which began in August, and 9,741 Libertys as it continued to work on reaching daily production goals. A year ago in October, the plant built 21,884 Libertys on two shifts. Through October, Wrangler sales this year are down 9 percent to 62,913, in part because supply was interrupted as the new plant began production. U.S. sales of the Nitro were at 4,010 through last month, and the SUV became widely available this month. Liberty sales nationwide are down 19 percent for the year at 114,218. November sales results are due out tomorrow. Contact Julie M. McKinnon at: