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Chrysler closing all 30 plants for one month
KFYI Radio Phoenix ^ | Dec 17, 2008 | Unsigned

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 The letter said about $60 million a day is being withdrawn from the account, which is "well above our historical daily advances."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.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Government; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: automakers; begthreebig3; bigthree; chrysler; detroit; ford; gm
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To: joejm65

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.


61 posted on 12/17/2008 3:24:26 PM PST by DonaldC
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To: rabscuttle385; TigerLikesRooster

$ ping


62 posted on 12/17/2008 3:24:34 PM PST by TenthAmendmentChampion (Join us on the best FR thread, 8000+ posts: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts)
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To: DonaldC

You do not consider employee benefits to include pensions?


63 posted on 12/17/2008 3:24:46 PM PST by SFR
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To: Rutles4Ever

Thanks for being the inspiration for my new tag line (it was time :).

I rearranged stuff and added a couple.

Thanks!


64 posted on 12/17/2008 3:25:19 PM PST by upchuck (Get ready for 2009: Pray; Raise/conserve cash; Pay your debts; Pray; Stockpile; Buy ammo; Pray)
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To: SFR

I’m just repeatin what I heard the CEO of GM say on the hannity show...


65 posted on 12/17/2008 3:26:21 PM PST by DonaldC
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To: TexGuy

Cheaper than building cars no one will buy.


66 posted on 12/17/2008 3:26:47 PM PST by Chet 99
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To: Rutles4Ever
The local dealers say that their sales are in the cellar but their service departments are booming.

Peope are servicing and keeping their older vehicles.

67 posted on 12/17/2008 3:27:15 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

That’s why it’s a good time to be an auto mechanic.


68 posted on 12/17/2008 3:27:42 PM PST by dfwgator (I hate Illinois Marxists)
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To: DonaldC
I’m just repeatin what I heard

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.

69 posted on 12/17/2008 3:32:12 PM PST by SFR
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion

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


70 posted on 12/17/2008 3:32:21 PM PST by My Favorite Headache (Forget the 3AM phone call. Obama can not even answer the phone at 3PM.)
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion

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.”


71 posted on 12/17/2008 3:33:00 PM PST by Kieri (The Conservatrarian)
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To: Pilsner

Had to pay attention to that movie, but eventually I worked all that out.


72 posted on 12/17/2008 3:33:38 PM PST by patton (Vista malware delende est - Norton Antivirus)
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion

Had 2 PT Cruisers. Loved ‘em but they were gas hogs. Got a Caliber now. VERY happy.


73 posted on 12/17/2008 3:33:50 PM PST by MrLee (Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalyim!! God bless Eretz Israel.)
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To: DoughtyOne
The day Obama is sworn in, there won’t be any more bad news. Soon car sales will pick up, housing will firm up and everything will be wine and roses.

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.

74 posted on 12/17/2008 3:35:02 PM PST by xJones
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To: blam

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.


75 posted on 12/17/2008 3:36:31 PM PST by Rutles4Ever (Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna!)
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion

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.


76 posted on 12/17/2008 3:37:27 PM PST by nascarnation
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To: TenthAmendmentChampion

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.


77 posted on 12/17/2008 3:37:30 PM PST by papasmurf (Impeach the illegal bastard!)
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To: Kieri
“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.

So it's a minimum of thirty days.

78 posted on 12/17/2008 3:38:02 PM PST by Rutles4Ever (Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna!)
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To: Kieri

Thank you for the update. Crucial information to have.


79 posted on 12/17/2008 3:38:29 PM PST by TenthAmendmentChampion (Join us on the best FR thread, 8000+ posts: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
Lots of guys were getting 13-week vacations at 95% of their base pay. I have no idea if that is the case at present.

You can only pull that crap for so long. Then, one day, it catches up to you.

80 posted on 12/17/2008 3:38:40 PM PST by Right Wing Assault (What's Obama's Secret?)
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