Signs from the auto industry continue to look grim. Yesterday it was Ford guiding expectations below Wall Street’s estimates and today it’s Stellantis announcing it is pausing production of its Durango and Grand Cherokee models due to “slow sales”.

Manufacturing facilities at FCA’s large Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson will be paused for a week, Motor 1 reported. Stellantis told its workers there would be a ‘temporary shutdown’ and ‘subsequent layoffs’ as a result.

Mopar Insiders first posted the “Important Notice of Layoff” memo, which said: “There will be no scheduled production at Detroit Assembly Complex Jefferson” for the dates of October 28 to November 1. 

The Motor 1 report said that in 2022, the Jefferson complex employed over 5,000 people, but about 200 workers faced permanent layoffs in September. 

Stellantis told Motor 1: “Stellantis continues to take the necessary actions to align production with sales. This includes making production adjustments at the Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson. The Company will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether further action is required.”

Recall, operations at Stellantis have been nothing short of a nightmare this year, as we have been reporting. Early this month we wrote that Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight informed her team of white collar workers about the need to take “drastic measures” to shore up the Jeep and Ram parent’s finances. 

Knight told her team, “The Doghouse is back!” As she explained, this belt-tightening initiative involves heavily scrutinizing requests for purchases from outside vendors to ensure maximum cost savings. 

She said the doghouse “is the name for much stricter attention and control around purchase requisitions,” adding, “If we apply more discipline, we can ensure big savings for the company.”

The following Monday, Stellantis reduced its margin forecast for the entire year.

Back in September, the company’s dealer network wrote a letter to then CEO Carlos Tavares accusing him of the “rapid degradation” of the automaker’s brands. 

US dealer network leaders said Tavares had engaged in “short-term decision making” that boosted last year’s profits and increased his compensation but hurt the Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler brands.

And it looks like they may have been right…