Chrysler’s Canadian production numbers paint mixed picture in July

TORONTO—Chrysler’s Canadian manufacturing unit produced about 1,000 more cars and trucks last month than it did in July 2012, according to numbers released by the automaker.

Chrysler Canada’s plants pumped out 481 more cars and 507 more trucks over the same month last year for a total 28,350 vehicles compared to 27,363 cars and trucks built here in July 2012.

The biggest production gains were posted by the Windsor, Ont.-built Chrysler Town & Country minivan and Brampton, Ont., built Dodge Challenger.

The Windsor plant built 7,645 Town & Countrys in July compared to 5,941 in the same month last year—an increase of 1,704—while the Brampton plant, located just west of Toronto, produced 972 more of the popular throwback muscle cars for a total of 3,177 compared to 2,205 in July 2012.

Other Canadian-made production numbers were largely stagnant for the month, with the Ram Cargo Van and Chrysler 300 sedan seeing increases of six and 96 units, respectively.

Production of the Dodge Grand Caravan saw a drop-off of 281 units for the month, from 8,536 units last year to 8,255 in July 2013, while the brand’s Charger sedan was down 587 units to 4,583 from 5,170 last year.

The Chrysler-built Volkswagen Routan minivan, assembled at the Windsor plant, saw deep cuts to its production numbers, dropping to 108 units last month from 1,106 in July 2012 as the German automaker plans to drop it from its lineup this year.

For the calendar year 2013 Chrysler’s Canadian facilities have produced 138,255 cars—up from 135,257 for the same period last year.

On the other side of the coin, though, production of Chrysler trucks in Canada is down drastically in 2013, with 20,544 less vans built in Canada year-over-year, from 195,500 through last July to 174,946 this year.

The automaker’s North American combined production totals for the year were down 1,252 vehicles through July.