Chrysler Closes Shop for a Month
To help offset costs, Chrysler has reportedly shut down 30 of its factories until January 19 and will re-open sparingly which is different from the traditional 2 week shutdown at the end of the year. By sparingly we mean that Chrysler will re-open some selected shops while others will extend to a third week at the most.
But all this would also depend on President Bush. He is expected to come up with a plan to bailout the embattled automotive industry and from the looks of it, everything will hitch on whatever he would announce this Friday.
If the bailout fails to push through, this one month shut down may eventually turn into a permanent shutdown as the big three has now found itself on the verge of filing bankruptcy except perhaps for Ford.
There were initial talks that General Motors and Chrysler would merge but nothing ensued after they had initial talks last October. From there, everything seemed to be hell for the U.S. auto industry as they try to figure out how to save their automobile industry from imminent disaster.
Along with the shutdown comes 46,000 union workers who are now placed in a spot if they would have a job after the said temporary shutdown. You can bet they are likewise awaiting for the Bush announcement and they can perhaps take it from there if they will still report for work come January 19 or not.
“Chrysler Financial finances 75 percent of all vehicles shipped to U.S. dealers, and we continue to support our dealer body with uninterrupted wholesale financing,” a Chrysler Financial spokeswoman, Amber Gowen, said.
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