Production of Caravans for U.S. market suspended

Production for the United States of the Windsor-made Dodge Grand Caravan will temporarily halt in the fall over American regulations, though the head of the affected union local says he is not yet worried about a plant slowdown.

“FCA US has confirmed to U.S. dealers that production of the 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan for the U.S. market only will be temporarily suspended from September to November at the Windsor Assembly Plant,” LouAnn Gosselin, head of FCA Canada communications, said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “This action is being taken to address U.S. regulatory actions. Production of the Grand Caravan for the Mexican and Canadian markets is not affected.”

Gosselin said it is too early to say whether the Windsor Assembly Plant will experience a slowdown as a result.

American Fiat Chrysler dealers were warned this month to stock up on enough Dodge Grand Caravans to last through December, according to the Detroit-based Automotive News.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has known for a couple of years about pending U.S. “regulatory action” that would need to be addressed, so the issue is not a surprise.

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne addressed the issue in 2015 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in response to a reporter’s question: “There are technical reasons why that car cannot be sold for a much longer period of time than the current time. It’s just there are regulations that are coming into effect in 2017 that are going to restrict it.”

Dino Chiodo, president of Unifor Local 444 that represents more than 6,000 workers at Fiat Chrysler’s Windsor Assembly Plant, said the technical issues should soon be resolved.

“They’re already working on this, so I don’t see it as a big long process,” Chiodo said Tuesday. “But at the end of the day it has to be done and we get it. Everybody’s working on this and we’ll be selling in the States again in no time.”

Chiodo said in the meantime, production of the popular Caravan will continue for Mexico and Canada.

“At the moment there is no change in production whatsoever,” Chiodo said. “I don’t see a change for the immediate future.”

The Caravan was introduced for the 1984 model year and is considered a pioneering minivan.