One auto analyst believes a planned shutdown at the Windsor Assembly plant means the Chrysler Pacifica is not selling well, "pure and simple."
Fiat Chrysler will shut down the minivan plant the weeks of April 8th and 15th for what the automaker calls "product alignment."
Dennis Desrosier told AM800's The Lynn Martin Show that the overall market has been down 14 of the past 15 months and most analysts believe the market will be soft all year. He also says the segment the Pacifica is in, has migrated over to the larger SUV's and crossover SUV's, and the minivan is losing market share to those products "in a very big way."
"If you look at some of the other SUV products that Chrysler has, it's selling well," he says. "The Pacifica not only competes with other minivans in the marketplace, it competes with Chrysler's own product line-up."
Desrosier also says in the last five years, close to 50 Sport Utility Vehicles were introduced into the Canadian market, adding "even though the product itself is upscale like the consumer wants, it's bigger, not just upscale in terms of its technology and image, it is a bigger van than they've ever had. But consumers have moved over to the other side of the marketplace."
Canadian sales of the Chrysler Pacifica were down 61% in February compared to February of 2018, were just 235 of the minivans sold during the month. January sales were down 47% compared to the same time a year ago.
The latest planned shutdown at the assembly plant is the third one of 2019, with previous shutdowns in January and February.
The Windsor Assembly Plant employs nearly 6,000 workers which, when running at full-capacity, produces nearly 1,500 minivans per day.