Plant Closings

DETROIT -- The Associated Press reports the following plamnt closings. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG said Thursday that they are temporarily shutting down several assembly plants because of sluggish sales. GM plants halting production next week starting Oct. 22 are:

--Fairfax Assembly, Kansas City, Kan., which makes the Pontiac Grand Prix and Oldsmobile Intrigue.

--Janesville Assembly units 2 and 3, Janesville, Wis., which make Chevrolet and Isuzu medium duty trucks.

--Linden Assembly, Linden, N.J., which makes midsize pickup trucks, Chevrolet Blazer and the GMC Jimmy.

--Ste. Therese, Quebec, which makes the Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird.

About 6,000 employees will be affected by the GM shutdowns, said company spokesman Tom Wickham. Production will resume Oct.29.

Plants in Bowling Green, Ky., Arlington, Texas, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Oshawa, Ontario, will work overtime next week to reflect strong demand for trucks, GM said.

Ford plans to temporarily idle two plants because of slowing fleet sales, affecting approximately 2,400 workers. The facilities include its Chicago Assembly, which produces the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable and its Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly plant, which builds the Ford Escort and Focus.

They will be shut down for one week beginning Oct. 22.

Ford said the Kansas City Assembly in Claycomo, Mo., and Michigan Assembly, in the Detroit suburb of Wayne, will work overtime next week.

Saturday production also is scheduled Saturday for the portion of Kansas City Assembly that produces the Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute. The plant also builds the Ford F-Series pickup truck.

The Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator are built at Michigan Assembly.

Declining fleet and rental car sales are also causing reductions in vehicle production at DaimlerChrysler.

The Sterling Heights, Mich., assembly plant that produces the Dodge Sebring and Stratus will shut down for two weeks beginning Oct. 22. according to spokesman Trevor Hale.

The Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant, which builds the Chrysler Concord, 300M and Dodge Intrepid will be idled for one week beginning Oct. 29.

About 6,000 workers will be affected, Hale said.