Jeep News: Chrysler Restores Second Shift At Toledo, Cherokee To Miss On Sale Date

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

September 27, 2013

Back on Wednesday, Chrysler announced that they were temporarily laying-off 500 workers from the second shift at their Toledo, Ohio plant because the company had built enough Jeep Cherokees for the launch in the fall. It was only later that we learned that Chrysler is still having problems with the Cherokee's nine-speed automatic transmission. Now Chrysler is reversing their decision to layoff workers.

Automotive News is reporting that Chrysler will bring back the second shift next Monday to building Cherokees again. In a statement, Chrysler revealed that engineers are hard at work on software patches to help smooth the interaction of the engines, transmission and disconnecting drivetrain in the Cherokee.

"As we continue to refine the vehicle's powertrain software, we are implementing a plan that will allow us to make the required updates more quickly than anticipated, thereby making additional layoffs unnecessary at this time," said Chrysler Spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.

However with engineers working on patches, the Cherokee's on-sale date of the fall will be missed. Chrysler isn't giving a possible date as to when the Cherokee will be at dealer lots.

"This is the world's first application of a highly technical nine-speed transmission; on top of that, it is being mated to two new engines and three complex 4x4 systems. As our senior management has stated many times before, we will only introduce a vehicle to consumers when we are completely satisfied," said Tinson.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[G. David Felt]

WOW, Talk about a job of Flashing hundereds if not thousands of auto's with new code.

Not sure which is worse, laying off people temporarily or building a faulty product that MUST be upgraded before it can be sold.

[Drew Dowdell]

So are they going to flash the computer before shipping or will it be required that the dealer do it before delivery?

[William Maley]

So are they going to flash the computer before shipping or will it be required that the dealer do it before delivery?

I'm guessing it's before they ship them.

[G. David Felt]

So are they going to flash the computer before shipping or will it be required that the dealer do it before delivery?

I'm guessing it's before they ship them.

I agree, other news places that covered this story mentioned that the factory would upgrade the software before shipping to insure no dealers let one slip through that could give it a bad experiance to the customer.

I think the only way you could insure a successful launch would be to flash and then ship. Dealerships seem to be 50/50 on updates to code on engines and transmissions.

[justusforus]

My thoughts exactly. Good thing, reverse a layoff. Bad thing, we have a problem we have to fix but not in time for the release. You have to wonder how management thinks this sort of "jerking out of gear" management style gives confidence to the workers or the buying public.

WOW, Talk about a job of Flashing hundereds if not thousands of auto's with new code.

Not sure which is worse, laying off people temporarily or building a faulty product that MUST be upgraded before it can be sold.