FCA Idles Two Canadian Plants Over Slowing Sales, Increasing Inventories

What’s that supposed to mean? In plain English, FCA is idling two plants for one week each in April 2019. The one in Brampton will be offline from April 1st to 8th while Windsor won’t produce a thing from April 8th to 15th. The most important question is, aren’t all automakers doing the same thing when there’s less demand than anticipated?

The answer is not exactly clear, but one thing is certain. Both the Challenger and Charger are some of the oldest cars in their respective segments. Both are underpinned by the LX platform for full-size cars with rear- or all-wheel drive, dating back to the 2005 Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Magnum station wagon.

Although developed in America, the LX came out during an era when Chrysler was joined at the hip with Daimler AG. Not much is shared between the vehicle architecture and older Mercedes-Benz sedans, but nevertheless, there’s no denying the LX is as old as the hills.

Automotive News paints an even bleaker picture for Chrysler by highlighting another idling. Windsor Assembly was out of the picture for two weeks in January 2019 “in order to adjust for investories,” then Windsor was offline in the week of February 18th “because of a parts shortage.”

Adding insult to injury, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced on Monday that the Canadian plant would shorten production shifts. “Regular production schedules are expected to resume in April 2019” according to Lou Ann Gosselin, spokeswoman for the automaker’s Canadian division.

“We are not providing details beyond the statement,” concluded Gosselin when pressed about the specifics of these idlings, which speaks volumes about how uncompetitive these products are. As far as sales are concerned, the Pacifica and Grand Caravan are down 24 percent and 27 percent in the United States. Sales of the Charger and Challenger are also down by 28 and 8 percent in February 2019 compared to February 2018.