Sales Dip Idles Jeep Cherokee Plant

While Jeep may be a big money maker for Fiat Chrysler, the rugged off-road brand’s products aren’t all doing fabulously. A downturn in consumer enthusiasm has left the automaker with too many Cherokees in its inventory, so something has to give.

Belvidere Assembly goes dark for two weeks this month.

As reported by Automotive News, the temporary shutdown begins on Monday, with the Illinois plant coming back online January 27th. The publication claims FCA began the year with a 97-day supply of Cherokees, up from a 91-day supply a month earlier. Time to pair production with (reduced) demand.

Normal inventory for a car model is around 60 to 70 day’s worth, though this year has seen the industry average climb higher.

FCA’s aging Belvidere facility, which once cranked out such nameplates as the Dodge Omni and Dynasty, builds its sole model on two shifts. Unfortunately for the roughly 4,000 workers at Belvidere, Cherokee sales shifted into reverse in 2019, falling 20 percent for the year. The fourth quarter of 2019 saw the model’s volume fall 30 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

The current-generation Cherokee, bowing at the tail end of 2017, hit a sales peak in 2018 after suffering two years of declines. Overall, the Jeep brand closed out 2019 with a volume loss of 5 percent.

Looking forward, the Cherokee could see a next-generation model arrive sometime in 2021.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]