The Jeep Gladiator and Dodge Challenger will be built by plants.
After shutting down many of their factories in March, US automakers began to reopen them last month. This was in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. According to a report by Automotive News, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will not shut down its factories for the summer. Some will still be able to get retooling for up to a week.
Six factories, two in Mexico and four in America, will continue to produce some of the most popular vehicles from the automaker, including the Dodge Charger and Challenger as well as its Ram pickups and the Ram ProMaster. FCA will continue to build Jeep’s Wrangler, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Gladiator throughout the summer.
Some FCA factories may be closed for a while. The one-week shutdown will be at Belvidere (Illinois) plant of FCA, which makes the Jeep Cherokee. FCA’s minivan production will be stopped for two weeks in July. Due to lower sales of the models they produce, both factories had their production shut down earlier in the year. Operation will be suspended for four weeks at Mexico’s Toluca Assembly plant.
This is quite a change from mid-March, when automakers asked factory workers to work from home and others to stay at home. FCA and other automakers did maintain some factories in order to produce medical equipment for hospitals, front-line workers, and others. FCA borrowed money in order to weather any uncertainty.
Other facilities of FCA – including its stamping, powertrain and component factories – will provide production to keep the assembly plants running through the summer and allow them to adjust their operations as necessary. Car sales will rebound as economies around the globe open up, which means that dealerships will require new cars to sell to their eager customers.