Fiat Chrysler Minivan Production Stalled Through October
Fiat Chrysler will idle production of both the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Grand Caravan for over a month in autumn. But with the latter model seeing impressive sales in the United States last month, can FCA afford to hit “pause” on assembly?
Not really, but that doesn’t matter — the Grand Caravan has to meet updated U.S. safety standards if Dodge wants to keep selling them. Unfortunately, FCA only has a 19-day supply of the minivan in reserve after an exceptional August depleted inventories. On the flip side, Chrysler’s objectively good but slower-selling Pacifica has a 108-day vehicle surplus. Wait, that’s also bad news.
At least the line workers at FCA’s Windsor Assembly Plant have have some time off to look forward to.
Unifor Local 444, which consists of 4,000 unionized hourly employees at the factory, explained to Automotive News that the Windsor factory will be shut down for roughly five weeks beginning October 2nd, if everything goes according to plan. However, FCA’s labor contract allows it to move up the idle date to September 27th if it so chooses.
The reason for the downtime is due to the Grand Caravan’s nonobservance of new U.S. side airbag regulations that went into effect this month. This is the same mandate that effectively killed the Dodge Viper but, as the Grand Caravan has space for the airbags and is far too important to send into oblivion, FCA needs to retool so it can install the new safety devices as standard equipment.
Unifor says its not worried about the dwindling supply of Grand Caravans. U.S. dealers were told in June to load up on the model, because after August there was no guarantee they would receive any additional stock for at least seven months. Sales of the 2017 model will continue in Canada, but the U.S. will have to wait until production resumes with the 2018 MY minivan in December.
[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I don't understand anything FCA does. Ok, well, I get why the Pacifica is all new, etc. (Although, the T&C had name equity, but I digress) to differentiate it self from the Grand Caravan. The Grand Caravan is (I think) the best selling non-offroad vehicle (i.e. not Jeep or Ram) they have, and they keep looking for a way to kill it....this seems counter-intuitive to any business plan I have ever studied. Its almost like Sergio is offended by its existence. And now, because it was supposed to die, they HAVE to conveniently stop production. So, they are trying to kill by way of attrition of their customer base? The people who want a Caravan or Journey aren't going to get a Pacifica or Durango...they are going to go look at a Kia Sedona or Sorento, respectively. And they might not ever come back to the brand. Someone please explain to me why on earth FCA hates this van so much? It's not world class at anything, but its fills a market need very well for a lot of people.
I don't think Sergio cares about Chrysler or Dodge. Sergio is more interested in merging with someone. The money is being invested in Alfa Romeo and Fiat and Chrysler and Dodge are left to wither away. I don't really think Sergio cares that much about Ram or Jeep more about what he can get out of them. I doubt FCA will last much longer. Does seem to me that as long as the Dodge Caravan is selling that FCA should run it as long as it is profitable. The Caravan is like the Crown Victoria and Ranger in that as long as there is little spent on it and it still is profitable run it till it no longer is. That actually makes sense.