DaimlerChrysler to shut two North American plants for a week

September 16, 2002 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Bloomberg News is reporting that DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit will shut plants in Canada and Delaware for a week beginning Monday, its first factories since April to be closed because of reduced demand.

The third-largest automaker in the U.S. will idle a combined 4,700 workers at a Brampton, Ontario, plant that builds Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler Concorde sedans and a Newark, Delaware, factory that makes Durango sport-utility vehicles, spokeswoman Michele Tinson said.

Durango sales fell 5.1 percent in August from the year-earlier month and Intrepid sales slid 12.1 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Chrysler's sales rose 24 percent in August as no-interest loans and an extended warranty helped lure more buyers. U.S. auto sales climbed 13 percent in August and rose 0.8 percent the first eight months of this year.

There's no evidence of a broader production slowdown "but we expect to see more sporadic plant shutdowns as we go into next year," said Jim Gillette, president of IRN Inc., a company that forecasts auto production for suppliers. Auto sales "are going to run out of steam soon" as no-interest loans lose their effectiveness, he said.

Chrysler will have employees working overtime at five plants where the company needs more models, such as a Toledo, Ohio, plant that makes Jeep Liberty sport-utility vehicles, Tinson said. General Motors Corp. will have employees at 12 plants working overtime next week. Ford Motor Co. doesn't discuss overtime in advance.