Chrysler Takes ~5 Weeks Downtime at Mexican Van Plant for Retooling

Assembly plants in Belvidere, Ill.; Brampton, Ontario; Windsor, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico, are also down. The result: five of Chrysler’s 12 assembly plants in North America are not producing at present.

While the Saltillo plant is down for retooling, the other four plants are taking downtime to “to align production with global sales,” the spokeswoman said.

She declined to clarify when Steel Market Update asked whether that phrase might be a euphemism for weaker-than-forecast demand. But, she added, “The downtime is not related to supply chain issues.”

Chrysler, a subsidiary of European automaker Stellantis, is not the only major automaker producing fewer vehicles this month.

Toyota, as SMU reported last month, continues to expect that it will produce 40,000-50,000 fewer vehicles than initially expected in January because of supply chain challenges.

A rough rule of thumb is that each vehicle contains approximately one ton of steel.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com