Posted on 12/17/2008 2:31:26 PM PST by TenthAmendmentChampion
DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler which has over 100,000 US employees is closing it's plants for at least one month as the company does it's best to save money and sell off existing stock. Earlier in the day Chrysler LLC's finance arm has told dealers it may temporarily stop loans used by dealers to stock vehicles because the retailers pulled money from a fund that helps finance them.
Chrysler Financial Chief Executive Tom Gilman sent letters to dealers, dated Dec. 12, that asked them to refrain from withdrawing large amounts from a "cash management account" used to finance the loans, a source familiar with the letter said.
Withdrawals from the fund, which have totaled more than $1.5 billion since July, have caused a drain on Chrysler's resources and could limit the company's ability to offer financing to dealers to buy vehicles, according to the letter.
Chrysler Financial said in a statement that it finances 75 percent of all vehicles shipped to U.S. dealers and continues to support its dealer network with "uninterrupted" wholesale financing. The letter said about $60 million a day is being withdrawn from the account, which is "well above our historical daily advances."
Chrysler dealers were paid a bonus if they kept money in the account.
Talk about potential bankruptcy at Chrysler, which is seeking federal loans to survive through March, has spooked dealers, who withdrew heavily from the account in the past few months.
Chrysler has asked dealers to only withdraw "what is absolutely necessary" from the fund, according to the letter.
Chrysler, which has seen sales fall 28 percent so far this year, is also facing pressure from some suppliers who were insisting on being paid in advance for goods.
Not exactly happy days there either. I know someone working for Nissan and they are nervous as well. I have not heard if they are talking about rolling shutdowns yet, but many of them depend on the same suppliers that the big 3 depend on and believe the big 3 going down will take down the suppliers as well. That will leave them very crippled until other sources can be found.
$ ping
You do not consider employee benefits to include pensions?
Thanks for being the inspiration for my new tag line (it was time :).
I rearranged stuff and added a couple.
Thanks!
I’m just repeatin what I heard the CEO of GM say on the hannity show...
Cheaper than building cars no one will buy.
Peope are servicing and keeping their older vehicles.
That’s why it’s a good time to be an auto mechanic.
Oh my bad, I thought you said I had my facts wrong. Obviously if the GM CEO thinks pension plans are not part of an employees benefits it does explain why they are in dire straits.
Well when it cost you 70 dollars per employee to keep them on the line for a wage of average 28.60 and benefits costing about 42 dollars an hour and then toyota average cost per worker is 30 16-17 for wage and 14 for benefits. It tends to strain and then you are charging 52,000 for a chrysler vehicle as opposed to 24,000 for a toyota which lasts longer it makes perfect sense and then the average assembly line worker has a GED as an education there you go. They will fall hard and they wont budge. The line workers make more than nurses do starting out it is a travesty of monumental proportions.
Walmart distribution workers average pay 15-16 an hour. Loook at those low prices. Education level GED
Here’s an update from WXYZ:
“All plants will be idled at the end of the shift on December 19. Affected employees will not return to work any sooner than Monday, January 19.
Chrysler is taking the drastic action as it fights to survive a weakened economy and dramatic decline in sales.
The automaker says lack of consumer credit is also a major part of the problem. Chrysler dealers say they have many willing buyers but are unable to close deals due to lack of financing.
Meantime, Chrysler is still waiting for word from the White House on whether it will receive billions of dollars in rescue funds needed to help the automaker get through the rest of 2008.”
Had to pay attention to that movie, but eventually I worked all that out.
Had 2 PT Cruisers. Loved ‘em but they were gas hogs. Got a Caliber now. VERY happy.
I must be almost as smart as you, because I've been saying that for a while. Gasoline went to $4.00/gal for months and now is down to $1.60/gal. What the hell changed?
Bawny Fwanks & Co. with the approval of Alan Greenspan, wrecked the housing market well in time for the 2008 election. The sky has been falling for some time now, and only such terrifying news, drummed in day after day, could have elected someone so absolutely unqualified as Obama.
Obama came out of the extremely - and enternally -corrupt Chicago machine, and he has BIG money that bankrolled him into office. He's bought, paid for, and owned.
All that's left is for him to pull an FDR, and create countless new government paid jobs and work projects to get the vast majority as seeing him as the messiah.
Don’t worry. Economics will take care of that, too. When people are strapped for cash, they’re not going to automatically go to the dealership to get raped by their in-house labor charges.
It will be great for private mechanics, without a doubt.
Blue collar get a combination of state unemployment benefits and supplemental benefits from the company. If (when) the company goes Chap 11, that part is not guaranteed.
I’m guessing Florida will be mobbed after Christmas as laid off autoworkers head south to vacation for a few extra weeks.
If they’re union members, they do. It’s on a declining scale. I don’t know their contract, but years ago, it was for the first 4 weeks, full pay, 1/2 company, 1/2 union. After that, it was a combo of temporary unemployment and union.
So it's a minimum of thirty days.
Thank you for the update. Crucial information to have.
You can only pull that crap for so long. Then, one day, it catches up to you.
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