George S. May Business Blog

Chrysler to reopen 7 plants this month

Chrysler has announced that it will be reopening 7 of its 11 assembly plants this month. According to Chrysler, two plants in Michigan, one in St. Louis and one in Toledo will reopen during the week of June 29. Two factories in Ontario, Canada will also reopen as well as one in Mexico.

The seven plants make a variety of Chrysler vehicles, including the Dodge Grand Caravan, Jeep Wrangler and the Chrysler Town & Country.

Chrysler is also reopening several factories that make powertrains, axles and other components used by the assembly plants. Chrysler’s parts distribution centers, which supply parts to both plants and dealerships, will also reopen.

Three assembly lines will stay shut down, however; those being in Illinois, Detroit and Mexico. Those plants are said to employ about 5,000 workers between them.

All told, Chrysler currently has about 38,000 production workers in the U.S., both hourly and salaried, and employs another 9,000 in Canada and 5,000 in Mexico. So most of Chrysler’s workforce will be returning to their jobs later this month.

But the news is not all hunky dory, as four of the company’s 30 plants are slated to close permanently by next year as Chrysler makes permanent reductions in its capacity. Chrysler has said one of those plants scheduled to close, the one in St. Louis, could be shut down as soon as this September. Also, all of Chrysler’s plants are due to shutdown again for normal summer retooling, which will take place during the weeks of July 13 and 20.

So far, the only assembly line that has been restarted was the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, where 115 people make the Dodge Viper niche muscle car. Chrysler is also looking to sell that facility.

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