Chrysler Closing St. Louis South Plant, To Cut 2,400 Jobs

St. Louis, Mo. (AHN) - American automaker Chrysler said Monday that it will cut some 2,400 blue-collar jobs and scale down production in two factories due to increasing oil prices and a demand slump on Chrysler's minivans and trucks. Chrysler will close its St. Louis South plant where Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan units are assembled by October 31, and reduce to a single shift production at the St. Louis North plant, factory of the Dodge Ram full-size pickup. Reports said that Chrysler is expected to disclose poor sales performance in June. Analysts forecast a double-digit plunge in sales across the automobile industry. In a KMWU broadcast report, Fenton Mayor Dennis Hancock said that with the high price of gas and lagging sales, the writing has been on the wall for some time.

"I haven't spoken to any of the workers specifically since the announcement came out this afternoon, but from what I'm being told, this really isn't a big surprise to them. They've sensed for some time that there was going to be some action taken," he said.