Chrysler has announced that it will be shuttering its St. Louis plant indefinitely, effective July 10th. The Fenton, Missouri plant is one of seven Chrysler plants slated to reopen this month, but will be shuttered for good next month, “contingent upon volumes.” The St. Louis plant produces the Dodge Ram .
According to Chrysler’s statement, it will offer its St. Louis plant employees incentives to leave the factory and will also offer employment at other Chrysler plants. The plant will briefly open for operation on June 29th before being shut down on July 10th.
The St. Louis closure will leave Dodge with just two North American Ram production plants — Warren, Michigan and Saltillo, Mexico. The Warren plant will reopen as scheduled on June 29th, but Chrysler has yet to announce a reopen date for the Saltillo plant.
It remains unclear if there will be any production shifts as a result of the closure, but Chrysler could move some Ram 2500 production to the Warren plant. The St. Louis plant produces both the Ram 1500 and 2500 while the Warren plant currently only builds the 1500 model. The Saltillo plant produces the Ram 2500 and 3500, as well as other HD models.
All Chrysler plants will be idled during mid-July in order to re-tool the plants for the 2010 models.
According to Automotive News, Chrysler had 68,700 Rams in inventory as of June 1st – about a 115-day supply.
