Certain FCA Plants Will Work Through The Summer Shutdown:

Six Facilities Will Continue To Build Much Needed Product For Dealer Inventories...

Robert Miller June 20, 2020

The 4,000,000th Ram Truck Produced at the Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant. (Ram Mexico).

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will be skipping its usual summer shutdown to continue building much-needed inventory that was dwindled down due to plant shutdowns for the COVID-19 (or Coronavirus) pandemic. The move will allow the automaker to replenish its inventory of popular trucks, SUVs, and muscle cars.

An employee at FCA’s Brampton (Ont.) Assembly Plant works on a Dodge Challenger. (FCA).

According to the company, the following plants will remain operational through the summer shutdown…

United States:

Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP) – Jeep® Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango
Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) – Ram 1500
Toledo Assembly Complex – Jeep® Wrangler, Wrangler Unlimited, and Gladiator

Canada:

Brampton Assembly Plant – Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, and Dodge Charger

Mexico:

Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant – Ram Heavy Duty, Ram Chassis Cab, and Global Ram 1500 Classic
Saltillo Van Assembly Plant – Ram ProMaster

Dealers across the United States and Canada have been complaining about low inventory volumes and not being able to fill the demand of their customers. Tens of thousands of customers held off exchanging their leases due to much of the dealer base being closed during the numerous stay-at-home orders for areas across the United States and Canada.

Employees of the Toledo North Assembly Complex conduct final quality checks on the Jeep Wrangler before it leaves the plant. (FCA).

Pickup inventories across the both countries have been low since many of the state-at-home orders have been lifted. Many dealers across both areas have been struggling to find the existing products on other dealers lots to fulfill their needs. Thanks to low-interest rates and lots of cash down on the hoods of many products during the shutdown, many lots just simply have little to no inventory depending on where you are located.

According to the Automotive News, the plants that were not listed above will either have a one or two-week summer shutdown. One source close to MoparInsiders has said that FCA has more than 400,000 open dealer orders that are currently trying to be filled. However, as of the writing of this article, FCA hasn’t replied to the comment.