FCA Idling Ontario Plants “To Align Production With Demand”

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will be idling two plants located in Ontario, Canada, for one week each, next month. The Brampton facility will be down between April 1 and 8, and the Windsor factory from April 8 to 15.

The announcement was made on Tuesday night, reports AutoNews. The news outlet talked to FCA Canada spokesperson Lou Ann Gosselin, who said that the decision has been taken in order “to align production with demand”.

In Windsor, a team of 6,000 people is responsible for making the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan. When running at full capacity, in three shifts daily for 6 days a week, the plant makes almost 1,500 minivans each day. The factory has already been shut down three times this year to adjust for inventories and due to parts shortage.

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Through February, sales of the Pacifica dropped by 24 percent, to 14,817, in the United States, whereas the Grand Caravan dipped by 27 percent, to 19,634. In the first two months of the year, the Pacifica was down 54 percent, to 512 units, while the Grand Caravan saw a 20 percent decrease, to 4,836 in Canada.

At Brampton, about 3,500 FCA employees are putting together the Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Charger. The facility was down the first two weeks of January, too, said Gosselin.

At 4,586 units, sales of the 300 were down 32 percent in January and February, this year, in the U.S. The Challenger and Charger saw a 28 percent and 8 percent decrease, respectively, to 6,869 and 11,757 units.

North of the U.S. border, Chrysler sold just 390 units of the 300 in the first two months of the year, marking a 30 percent drop. The Challenger and Charger were up, however, by 93 and 38 percent, respectively, to 453 and 920 units.