Steel Markets

Chrysler Follows GM, Ford and Extends Chip-Related Downtime at Two Plants

Written by Michael Cowden

October 1, 2021

Stellantis – the Dutch parent company of Chrysler – has extended downtime at two of its North American plants because of the ongoing global microchip shortage, a company spokeswoman said.

The automaker’s assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., will be down the week of Oct. 4 as will its assembly plant north of the U.S. border in Brampton, Ontario.

autoBelvidere makes the Jeep Cherokee SUV. Brampton makes the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger cars. 

Belvidere has been down since Aug. 30, and Brampton last ran production in the week of Sept. 13, the spokeswoman said.

“All other assembly plants with the exception of Belvidere and Brampton are running next week,” she said.

The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker’s announcement meant that all “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers – the other two are Detroit-based General Motors and Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford Motor Co. – will have downtime at some of their North American plants next week.

GM and Ford had already confirmed additional outages to SMU.

Ward’s Intelligence estimates automakers in North America will produce about two million fewer vehicles than expected this year – 1.7 million due to the chip shortfall and the rest to other supply chain issues such as COVID shutdowns and shipping delays.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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