Chrysler to close one Missouri plant; cut production at another

DETROIT (AP) -- Chrysler LLC said Monday it will indefinitely close one Missouri plant and cut production at another due to slumping demand for pickup trucks and minivans.

Officials with the Auburn Hills-based automaker said in a conference call that it will shutter the St. Louis South plant, which makes minivans, effective Oct. 31. The St. Louis North plant, which makes full-size pickups, will be cut from two shifts to one effective Sept. 2.

Chrysler said the moves would affect 2,400 jobs. That includes 1,500 at the minivan plant and another 900 at the pickup truck plant, which both are in Fenton, a St. Louis suburb.

Chrysler President and Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said the company has no plans to reopen the minivan plant.

"We see no need for the capacity in the future," he said, adding that demand for minivans can be handled by three shifts at the factory in Windsor, Ontario.

LaSorda also denied rumors that Chrysler's new owners, Cerberus Capital Management LP, had plans to sell the company in pieces.

"Hogwash, absolutely not being considered at all," he said. "Absolutely no relevance. I don't even want to entertain those questions."

He would not say if workers at the pickup truck plant could be recalled, adding that the company never announces an indefinite shift cut "because that is something we cannot foresee."

The company will hold meetings with affected workers to review severance programs, LaSorda said.

LaSorda blamed the moves on a slowing economy, high gasoline prices and a shift in consumer demand from larger vehicles to smaller, more fuel-efficient ones.

He said the private company is meeting or exceeding its financial targets but "this environment is forcing us to make some very difficult decisions."

Vice Chairman and President Jim Press said despite the cuts, Chrysler remains bullish on the minivan and pickups. He said there's a market for people who need pickups for work, and that minivans are fuel-efficient alternatives to big sport utility vehicles.

"We have to better align the volume with our inventories," he said.

Monday's announcement follows several lengthy plant shutdowns by Chrysler.

The company said in a memo sent to workers on Wednesday that it would close the Toledo North Assembly Plant for seven weeks from July 7 through the week of Aug. 18 due to sagging sales. The plant makes the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro midsize SUVs.

The Newark, Del., Assembly Plant, which makes the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs, was shut down starting Monday for five weeks, with workers scheduled to return Aug. 4, and the Warren truck plant, which makes the Dodge Ram pickup, will close for five weeks in late June and July, according to union officials.

Most auto factories are idled for only one or two weeks during the summer as the company shifts from one model year to the next.

Chrysler's U.S. sales were down 25 percent in May, a month in which the whole market dropped 11 percent when compared with May of last year. Through the first five months of the year, its sales were off 19 percent, with huge drops in larger vehicles that make up most of Chrysler's lineup.

Ram pickup sales were down almost 27 percent when compared with the first five months of 2007. Sales of the Dodge Caravan minivan were down almost 35 percent through May, while sales were off just over 13 percent for the Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

LaSorda said the company is still meeting or exceeding all of its internal financial goals, and that it had cut production last year in anticipation of a U.S. market slowdown.

"It's important that we act now to better align ourselves with the current market reality," he said.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. already have announced cuts due to the latest market downturn. Chrysler announced cuts in November, but analysts have said the company needs to do more.

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AP Business Writer Jeff Karoub contributed to this report.