Demand for some of Stellantis NV’s vehicles will have plants in Michigan, Ohio and Mexico running for a few days during the typical holiday break next week, while a lack of demand for other vehicles will leave some plants idling for much of January.
A pandemic-induced global microchip shortage this year has hurt production of all kinds of vehicles, resulting in depleted dealership inventories and clarity on plants with prioritized product versus possibly vulnerable plants with less popular and profitable vehicles.
To make up for some of the lost production during the holiday break that begins on Friday, running on Monday and Tuesday will be the Mack Assembly Plant in Detroit, home of the three-row and now two-row Jeep Grand Cherokee; Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, which makes the Ram pickup trucks; and Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio, which churns out the Jeep Wrangler SUV and Gladiator truck.
In addition to those days, Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico will run on Dec. 29 to produce the Jeep Compass. Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where it builds the Ram Classic pickups and the Wagoneer SUVs, will run on Monday alone.
Engine, transmission, component and stamping plants will run operating schedules to support production at these locations as needed.After the new year, several plants will be down “to align production with global sales,” spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in a statement.
The Jeep Cherokee plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which saw a couple rounds of layoffs and a shift cut this year, will be down through Jan. 14. Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, which builds the Chrysler minivans and is slated to have its second shift cut in the spring, adds another week through Jan. 21. The other plant in Ontario, Brampton Assembly Plant, where the Dodge muscle cars and the Chrysler 300 are built, will be down through Jan. 26. Toluca also will be down Jan. 3-21.
Saltillo Van Assembly Plant in Mexico will be down from Jan. 3 to Feb. 10 for retooling.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares earlier this month said visibility into the shortage of semiconductors continues to remain a challenge for the industry, which expects the scarcity to continue for months still.
“What I can tell you is my order book is going to do,” Tavares said during a media roundtable in Detroit. “People want to buy cars. It’s amazing. It is as if we have all discovered through the COVID crisis how important it is to protect our freedom of mobility, and therefore, what’s the best way to protect my freedom of mobility? It is to have my car.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble