Stellantis to resume minivan production, extend Jeep crossover downtime

The Chrysler minivan assembly plant in Windsor will resume production with two shifts the week of July 5, while Stellantis NV extends downtime at other plants affected by the global semiconductor shortage.

Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico, home to the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass crossovers, respectively, will be idled the week following Independence Day.

"Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry," spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the automaker says it is hiring temporary employees at plants in Metro Detroit, in Toledo and at its Mopar parts distribution centers. The positions start at $15.78 per hour. Job seekers can apply at careers.fcagroup.com.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares previously had said the second quarter was expected to be the worst hit from the shortage of the microchips used in consumer electronics, including vehicles' infotainment, heated seats, automated driving functions and more. The transatlantic automaker will report sales for the quarter on July 1.

Windsor has lost production of 65,450 vehicles as of Tuesday, after being down for three weeks in February and nearly all of April, May and June, according to estimates from AutoForecast Solutions LLC. The plant employs 4,581 people.

Belvidere, however, is the plant that has lost the most production globally of major automakers, according to the industry forecaster. Belvidere has lost out on producing 118,481 vehicles. Toluca has lost 64,233 crossovers.

Consulting firm AlixPartners LLC expects the shortage will cost the industry 4 million vehicles and $110 billion in revenue in 2021 with inventory shortages extending into next year. Paul Jacobson, chief financial officer of General Motors Co., last week said the supply-chain challenges may extend longer than expected.

"We expect that the semiconductor challenges are going to continue into the second half," Jacobson said during the Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference. "I would say that third quarter is probably a little bit more of an impact than we were expecting it to be a couple months ago."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble