Fiat-Chrysler Drops Michigan Shift, Lays Off 1,300 Workers After Slow Sales

Slow passenger car sales have led Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to lay off approximately 1,300 workers at the Sterling Heights facility, in Michigan.

The plant, which is responsible for producing the slow-selling Chrysler 200 midsize sedan, will also end one of its two shifts, after the vehicle’s sales plunged 63 percent in the first three months of 2015, compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

FCA is expected to find new jobs for the workers who were laid off, by increasing SUVs and trucks production: “FCA is not the only company experiencing a slow market for small cars“, said Norwood Jewell, Union Auto Workers Vice President, quoted by Reuters.

“On a brighter note, there is a strong demand for larger-sized vehicles. The company has been planning to increase its capacity to build more trucks and SUVs. I believe in the long term, this move will be a positive one for our members and the company“, he added.

This represents one of the largest layoffs at an auto plant in the US, since the 2008-2009 recession, but it will not be the end of production changes among automakers, who are trying to adjust to consumer tastes and to shift from producing hatchbacks and sedans to SUVs and pickup trucks, as the market for the latter continues to increase. Passenger cars accounted for 44 percent of sales in the United States last year, down from 48 percent in 2014.