Sales of Toledo-made vehicles plummeted compared to a year ago.
The iconic Jeep Wrangler saw its sales decline 31 percent to 6,093 units compared to 8,829 units a year ago.
Jeep Liberty sales dropped 42 percent to 3,766 units from 6,534 units a year ago,
while Dodge Nitro sales fell 64 percent to 1,651 units from 4,602 sold during July 2007.
Dan Henneman, Jeep Unit chairman for United Auto Workers Local 12, said yesterday that future orders for Jeep Libertys, Wranglers, and Dodge Nitros made by his members at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex had fallen sharply.
"The orders just aren't there," Mr. Henneman said. "We were averaging about 800 [Liberty or Nitro] orders a day. Right now, we're lucky if we get 100, and a lot of days, it's below that."
Workers on the Liberty/Nitro line have been laid off through Aug. 25 because of slow sales. Mr. Henneman said that after being off a month, if Chrysler brought workers on the Liberty/Nitro line back tomorrow, there would only be enough orders for eight days of work.
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toledoblade.com -- Auto sales in U.S. plummet in July
