Chrysler shuts down all production

Chrysler shuts down all production

money.cnn.com

All 30 of the carmaker's plants will close after the last shift on Friday, and employees will not be asked to return to work before Jan. 19.

Chrysler blamed the "continued lack of consumer credit for the American car buyer" for the slow-down in sales that forced the move.

The company ordinarily shuts down operations between Dec. 24 and Jan. 5. This closure would add roughly two weeks to that shutdown.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is usual around this time, but they have added two more weeks to the shutdown. I wonder will GM follow suit? In this situation, I don't feel bad for the executives, but I do feel bad for the common worker who is just trying to feed his family.

People say let them fail, I can see why people say this, but I wonder how this will effect the economy as a whole?

money.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Ya they always blame the public for their sorry made products and why people wont buy defective merchandise, yet blame the public.

Typical. I have no sympathy for the auto industry whatsoever.

They made their own trap and are now caught in it. Let them get themselves out of their trap.



Cheers!!!!

THis is global.......Many industrial plants are laying off, slowing, or shutting down for long periods. Headline news everyday. It will only get worse.....total global contraction. The weak will die first.

Wow
This si really going to be a blow to the WHOLE industrail system in the U.S
Do the people let off get redundency?

I'm presently in the market for a new car......

Selfishly I'm hoping for the worst....

Economy is still strong in Alberta and I hope I can get a bargain.

The quality of those cars is unbelievably poor. Absolutely ridiculous. I've owned 2 chryslers and both died before 80 thousand miles. The only American carmaker worth a damn is Ford, and they still aren't even close to japanese automakers.

Keep sending the message. I am not concerned in the least for a company who knowledgeably makes terrible products. Do they read consumer reports?

My Honda and my fathers Toyota? Both over 200 thousand and running strong. I wouldn't drive an American car unless they gave it to me half off.

I wish America in general would stop blaming the world and our leaders for our problems and make something of themselves. We caused all this, albeit indirectly, but the blame is placed squarely in our laps. Are we gonna keep the trend going or change it now?

2 weeks? Big deal? No.

Life will go on, families will be fed and crappy cars will travel the streets yet again.

STOP BELIEVING THEM!!!


i still laugh at all the IGNORANT people who say "let them fail, for building defective products,. blah blah blah". just regergitation of what they have heard from someone else.

i have worked at the warren truck assembly plant (Chrysler) for 12 years now, and if you only knew they checks and rechecks and yet again yard checks and perges that are put upon any vehicle before it leaves our yard. you would understand why i laugh.

now as for this "OH NO!!! all plants are being shut down until jan. 19th!!!" BS, i will have you know that for the past 3 years we have had 2 to 3 month lay-offs at this time FOR RE-TOOLING. now this little 1 month lay-off is hardly any news. and as u can see at least 1 or 2 months LESS then the previous 3 years.

Now as for this downtime, which is first and foremost for the holiday shutdown, is also being used for re-tooling as i stated above. but for this year we are going to be down to re-tool for our new hybrid Dodge Ram pick-up.which is of course LONG over due at least in my opinion.

i would also like to add that my plant is schedualed to return the 12th NOT the 19th as stated in the OP,. but this is always tentative to change. and on the 12th we are to work 1 or 2 weeks then sut down again for an additional 2 weeks for more re-tooling. one of the main reasons for this is if/when we are laid off more then 30 days, we lose our benefits. so yea i guess this also foils all the people saying "the union gets paid to be in the job bank and do nothing for 45 years" (exageration)

but i ask, PLEASE STOP BELIEVEING the MSM that are STILL trying to use thier scare tactics.

thought i would add our usual holiday shutdown is from dec 23 to jan 3rd.

also our schedual is put up by the amount of orders, so you "let them fail for the defective crap they build!!" people,. alot of someones out there are still buying our "crap". bnut i guess you knew that, cause you know everything.

SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT::: none of the quotes in this post were directed at anyone in particular, and are the FACTs from MY experience only. and solely my own.





EDITED TO ADD: if you do not take care of your vehicle, it will NOT last. and yes i stand by my products i build.also we menial union workers will yes again be putting ALOT of our overpaid money into "your"economy. so please i beg you stop letting them turn you against your own brothers. my gosh wake up!!.

oh and yes i will not be replying to all the ignorant rants and bashings that i know will follow my post.


and for all you ignorant people here is a link so that you understand that this word "ignorant" is not a derogitory comment.

www.merriam-webster.com...


as you can see it is nothing more then a LACK OF INFORMATION.

but it seems to me its more of the wrong information we all hate.

[edit on 12/17/2008 by keeff]

Chrysler blamed the "continued lack of consumer credit for the American car buyer" for the slow-down in sales that forced the move.

I personally would not blame the "continued lack of consumer credit". In my opinion, Chrysler's quality of build has become slack in the last 8 years when compared a long side Toyota or Honda technology.

It is also a possibility that they just want to hop on the "bankruptcy bandwagon" which seems to provide a window of opportunity for these corporations to receive a healthy long term loan directly from the U.S. Government.

Anybody know what the APR of these loans is? I would assume extremely low rate due to the failed economy, but I could be mistaken.

If they need the money however, I don't see any problem with providing this long term loan. It is an important industry to keep a float with the increasingly large unemployment rate.

[edit on 12/17/08 by Yoda411]

Originally posted by Runningtobabylon

Do the people let off get redundency?

I have no idea what you mean by redundency but I can tell you how it's effecting a lot of people.

I work for a supplier for the auto industry, we make the wheels that go on all those shiny new cars. The workers at my plant got seriously screwed today.

We normally have a two week shutdown this time of year. That's just a normal occurrence. Our's would start this Friday and go until January 5th. Last week they said it would be a three week shutdown starting this Friday because of the shape the auto industry was in.

GM made it's announcement today and our plant didn't even wait till Friday, we shut down today. Good people were walked out of the door by security all day long. They were told that since they were being let go today they get no holiday pay, no holiday bonus, nothing. They were simply fired on the spot.

Screw Santa Clause and baby Jesus too, we're closing the doors for six weeks.

I watched a few good friends get led away, I know many others who will be out of work for the next 39 days.

Those that are away just through this shutdown can draw unemployment but that's still going to make it really tough for them. Christmas was just cancelled for most of them.

I'm still not sure how it will effect me, I have vacation scheduled for the next two weeks so I'm good for that long. I know I have to be back for the third week and then I have another three weeks that I may have to draw unemployment as well.

There is a real possibility ATS is going to get sick of me for the next month and a half

Still, this really hurt a lot of good people.

reply to post by keeff


1. With regards to the quality control that is in place at Chrysler

Just because carsa at your factory go throuch "checks and rechecks" it does not mean that Chrysler's cars are as good as Toyota's. Unfortunately, the US automakers have turned out an inferior product. Perhaps this is more the fault of the designers than the manufacturers. Also, do the "checks and rechecks" detect every single thing that could go wrong with an automobile.

2. With regards to your rosy picture of Chrysler

I know times are tough out there for everyone. We all would like to believe the people we work for are doing well and are not only going to make it, but are going to succeed by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately many companies, Chrysler included, are in trouble. If things were rosy at Chrysler, you company's CEO would not be flying to Washington to grovel for a few billion dollars to make it through the month.

just wanted to add yet another one of my opinions that comes from my experiense. the auto industry is NOT going anywhere anytime soon. i will entertain the fact that yes we may be sold and bought again, but if you are not just jumping on the band wagon as i think most are. you will know that chrysler HAS been bought and sold numberous times in the last few years.

i know leave you to bicker amongst yourselves about all the misinformation you choose to believe.

AGAIN: nothing in this post is directed at anyone in particular, so i will not be responding to any bashing coming my way as i am sure it will. and i will let you know that i assure you that some of the bashing directed at me may very well be deserved. but only from your own personal experiences.

You have got to be kidding me!

Chrysler is seriously blaming the lack of available consumer credit for the downfall of their company?

They have gone stark-raving mad!

When are we going to address the root of the problem, which is overproduction! We can't pump money to Chrysler to keep making things that everyone already has 10 of! We don't need any more cheap crap!

What we need is to do is restructure things so that we don't need to find a non-existent job in order to get food and shelter. That would be striking at the core of the problem. Shovelling money out the window to keep the game of musical chairs going is ludicrous!

We are OVERPRODUCING!

We are producing TOO MUCH LUXURY and TOO LITTLE SUSTAINENCE!

We depend on people buying LUXURIES in order to FINANCE SUSTAINENCE for ourselves! It's absolutely nuts!

I don't need any goddamned car, I need food and shelter!

We need to come together and volunteer gardening and shelter-building, it's the only way to live a moral existance.

reply to post by jhill76


Being a long time automotive engineer, I have hated Chrysler ever since the 80s when they first went bankrupt and the government bailed them out, only to see them sell out to Daimler.A lot of Americans lost their jobs then, too. That being said, it used to be said, and I have heard this plenty of times....what is for for GM is good for America....I personally think that if the car companies are allowed to go under, the rest of the economy will follow shortly after. There is a lot of jobs that go with the automotive manufacturing of cars, just the list of suppliers boggles the mind. Americans used to build the best, fastest, and the most pretty cars in the world, no other country even came close. Men like Harley Earl designed these cars, I'm talking about all those Impalas and Chevelles, and dare I say Corvettes. Nowdays Hondas and Toyotas are made here, and Chevys and Fords are made in other countries. This makes an old mechanic sad.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


ia gree with you. i believe it is not the parts as a whole, but the designes. and in any new design there will be flaws that need to be worked out.

as for number 2 i did not mean to paint a rosy picture of the company i work for, as i have lost numberous dollars in profit sharing (7k when i started to 300 now) but i would like to add that when these companies post a loss. that is mostly because they "doctor" the books. by that i mean they will dump MILLIONS into retooling and testing grounds and additions, then take this money out of the profits margin then say "oh woe is me, we need money!!" i hagve seen this year after year.

also i do understand that aLOT of companies are in hardships now, and in my opinion it is not because "the union" or "bad products" or "executives" but because of our very flawed monetary system. like where the money for the bridge loan for the auto industry and the bankers loans (700billion) is coming from. thin air and left to you, and yes us the union workers, to pay back. we all need to stop the money hungry elite and get our monetary system backed by actual things of value (gold, silver,... look up executive order 1110) and out of the hands of the money hungry "look, its your brothers fault!!! hate him" FEDERAL reserve.

thansk for your reply. i know i stated i would not reply to the bashing, but i think you for not doing just that. and you have my respect even if we never agree on anything. thanks once again for your lack of ignorance,

i need to sleep.

Keef,

I've treated all my cars they I should, like a big investment. Having said that....

The evidence that American cars are inferior is PROVABLE. I'm not saying you don't do a good job, I'm saying your company is putting garbage parts in your hands to do your job. Just check the archives of Consumer Reports. Crunch the numbers, and its obvious.

I stand behind the worker, but I also suggest you start looking for new work, as harsh as that sounds. This is not as big a deal as the news report is making it sound, but it is a small moment in a big timeframe of your company. It is up to all of us to put our work and our money into what makes this country great.

That guy way up the ladder in your organization? He doesn't care that my car died right after the warranty expired or that he is taking money out of his employees pockets. Believe that.

Remember when trucks were actually trucks? They could do work and take a beating.

Yeah, those days are gone. People can't afford today's expensive vehicles and they are expensive because of the fat at the companies. I am sure a good 10 grand could be chopped off a new 4x4 truck and still make profit.


The bottom line in my opinion about these companies is that they need to trim the lineup, make a good truck, a good car and a good in between and thats all.

Do 1 thing good, not 3 things half assed.

The only auto maker I trust is Toyota now.

Originally posted by Dulcimer
Remember when trucks were actually trucks? They could do work and take a beating.

Yeah, those days are gone. People can't afford today's expensive vehicles and they are expensive because of the fat at the companies. I am sure a good 10 grand could be chopped off a new 4x4 truck and still make profit.


The bottom line in my opinion about these companies is that they need to trim the lineup, make a good truck, a good car and a good in between and thats all.

Do 1 thing good, not 3 things half assed.

The only auto maker I trust is Toyota now.

Could not have said it better myself. Having 35 freaking cars in your lineup spreads the quality thin to the point of nonexistence.

What is their response to inflating gas prices and a greener disposition among the public? Make a line of even BIGGER cars and flood the market with them. That way, when no one buys them and they have all this useless steel sitting around, they can get big ol' tax breaks and bailout cause "OH HOW COULD WE HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?"

I don't think I'm all that smart, but if I ran a company like that, I could've seen that from a mile away.

Bigger cars for a smaller economy?? How bout we try to be more like the commonwealth countries, and work on our public transport rather than give a s*** about car companies who don't give a s*** about us.

Originally posted by SantaClaus

Bigger cars for a smaller economy?? How bout we try to be more like the commonwealth countries, and work on our public transport rather than give a s*** about car companies who don't give a s*** about us.

I'm not sure public transport is the answer, at least not in rural areas such as my hometown.

I live in a college town. We have public transportation and it's free.

As long as my car is running I'm not getting on no stinkin' bus.

Perhaps we need to change the minds of the people some how.