Ford Motor Co., which has a 2,000-employee transmission plant in Sharonville, said Wednesday that 21 of its North American factories will shut for only one week this summer. That includes the Chicago plant that makes the Ford Explorer SUV and the Mexican plant that makes the Fusion sedan.
General Motors will idle its factories only for short periods, while Chrysler plans a two-week break at just four of its ten North American assembly plants. Both GM and Chrysler are rolling out critical new models. Both GM and Chrysler rely on parts made at southwest Ohio factories.
Not all automakers are changing their schedule. Honda and Nissan said Tuesday they still plan to close their U.S. plants for a week around July 4. Toyota is also planning to shut down its U.S. plants for a week this summer.
The three Detroit carmakers traditionally shut factories for 14 days around July 4 to do maintenance and change the machinery for new models. But they don’t have that luxury this year. U.S. demand for new cars and trucks has been strong, up 7 percent through April, led by soaring demand for full-size pickup trucks as home construction rebounds. And after closing more than two dozen factories during the recession, U.S. automakers need to use their remaining capacity to its fullest.
Earlier this week, General Motors Co.’s North America President Mark Reuss said GM might pause work to change over some machinery but won’t have full shutdowns. A small number of plants could close for up to a week. Chrysler Group has canceled downtime at three assembly plants, including the two Detroit facilities where the SRT Viper and Jeep Grand Cherokee are made and the Toledo, Ohio, factory that makes the new Jeep Cherokee.
Ford said it will produce 40,000 vehicles during the week it’s staying open. In all, the company plans to produce 240,000 more vehicles this year than it did last year in North America.
Chrysler said in a statement that all but one of its 16 engine, transmission and metal stamping plants will work through the summer.
Workers’ pay isn’t impacted by the change, since the shutdowns are paid vacations.
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