Chrysler Group LLC has temporarily scaled back production of the new Jeep Cherokee, laying off about 500 employees, the company confirmed early today. "We have been producing vehicles since the end of June and have now built the critical number of vehicles we need to stock dealerships once containment is released," the company said in a statement. "We will temporarily idle the second shift so as not to put additional strain on our logistics partners to get these vehicles into the hands of customers as quickly and efficiently as possible upon release." The company said the layoffs were expected to last about two weeks. Bruce Baumhower, the president of United Auto Workers Local 12, told reporters today that the shutdown and layoffs were expected to last one week as employees do final checks on the vehicles before releasing them to dealers. Production of the 2014 Cherokee began June 24, but no vehicles have been shipped to dealerships yet. Chrysler brought on the second shift Aug. 19. Each shift is able to build about 400 vehicles per day. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Automoti...-some-Jeep-employees.html#8LzC7wuD2XQ4JGcI.99
