North American Automakers Release Summer Downtime Schedules
Written by David Schollaert
June 29, 2023
Several North American automakers have confirmed with SMU their planned summer outages for maintenance programs, facility updates, and model-year changeovers.
Some outages are starting this month, while others can be seen as late as August, but the bulk of the scheduled downtime will be taken throughout the month of July.
Stellantis (Chrysler’s European parent company), Honda, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford told SMU that all outages, whether complete or partial, are strictly related to scheduled summer downtime, maintenance, or facility upgrades.
Stellantis said North American assembly plants will pause production for one week in order to “maintain optimal inventory levels” or undergo maintenance and other facility upgrades. Those include:
- Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack & Jefferson (Michigan) – down the week of June 26
- Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (Michigan) – down the week of June 26
- Toledo Assembly Complex (Ohio) – down the week of June 26
- Brampton Assembly Plant (Ontario) – down the week of July 3
- Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant (Mexico) – down the week of July 3
- Warren Truck Assembly (Michigan) – down the week of Aug. 21
- Windsor Assembly Plant (Ontario) – down the week of Aug. 21
The carmaker said “powertrain, stamping and component plants will align work patterns to support assembly production schedules.”
Nissan will shut down US production at its assembly facilities in Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss., for two weeks – from June 26 to July 7.
Honda will similarly start its annual week-long summer shutdown beginning July 3 for its US and Canadian facilities. Its plant in Celaya, Gto., Mexico, will have a similar shutdown later.
Mercedes-Benz will pause production for one week at its vans plant in Charleston, S.C., from July 2 to July 9, while it plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., has a company holiday on July 3 and July 4 and a partial shutdown from June 26 to July 7.
Ford will pause production for one week at its nine North American plants in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Downtime will vary from facility to facility, the automaker said, adding that the scheduled shutdown at its manufacturing facilities would “support maintenance and retooling.”
By David Schollaert, david@steelmarketupdate.com
