For the third time in half a year, Fiat Chrysler suspends production of Jeep Cherokee

Reporter | Li Wenbo 1 Recently, Fiat Chrysler announced that it will suspend production at its Belvidere plant in Illinois, USA, which mainly produces Jeep brand SUV models. This is the third production shutdown at the Belvidere plant in six months. At the same time, the world's seventh-largest automaker also expressed concerns about the slowdown in global auto market sales this year. A spokesman for Fiat Chrysler said the production shutdown at the Belvidere plant is planned for the week of February 17 and will last for one week. The Belvidere plant was shut down for two weeks in January this year, and for a week in August last year. The factory also reduced production shifts last May. Auto consultancy LMC said Fiat Chrysler hopes Jeep model production will recover in the first quarter of this year. Most research institutions say that the outlook for U.S. car sales in 2020 is not optimistic and will reach its lowest level in six years. Consumers do not have enough budget to buy new cars. Last year, the average selling price of American cars was US$35,000, equivalent to about 240,000 yuan. The Belvedere plant is related to Fiat Chrysler's overall production capacity in the U.S. market. Last year, under pressure from the United Auto Workers, Fiat Chrysler spent heavily on the Belvidere plant to provide more jobs and increase Chrysler's production capacity. Last year, the Belvidere plant laid off 1,400 employees, a move that prompted the United Auto Workers to intervene. In September 2019, the company announced that it would build a new factory and expand five existing factories. The move will remove $4.5 billion from the budget and create 6,500 new jobs. The new factory will be established in Detroit, the former automobile city. If the plan comes to fruition, it will be the first new automobile manufacturing plant built in Detroit in nearly 30 years. The Belvidere plant regained its strength after receiving protection from the United Auto Workers. But Fiat Chrysler does not have much budget for this factory with a total of 3,900 employees, of which nearly 3,600 are hourly employees. The U.S. market's enthusiasm for Jeep Cherokee has also been greatly reduced. Last year's total sales fell 20% to 191,397 units, which caught the parent company off guard. What is even more troublesome for Fiat Chrysler is that the inventory of Jeep Cherokee reached 53,000 units in January this year, enough to supply the US market for 97 days.