Amid softening U.S. vehicle sales, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it will extend production shutdowns at two Indiana transmission plants.
The automaker's Indiana Transmission I plant in Kokomo and Tipton Transmission plant were idled the weeks of Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 to "adjust inventory," FCA wrote in an email to Automotive News.
"The down weeks have been extended through the week of Nov. 5," the company wrote.
Together, the plants have 2,230 employees -- 1,950 hourly and 280 salaried.
The extension was first reported by the Kokomo Tribune.
When employees return to work, they will work eight-hour shifts, five days per week, the Tribune reported. FCA plants typically operate six days per week on two 10-hour shifts, the company told the local paper.
The shift changes are also a result of an adjustment in inventory but "all other facilities will continue their current operating patterns," the Tribune reported.
FCA's U.S. light-vehicle sales in October rose 16 percent from the year-earlier month to 177,391 vehicles. The company's U.S. light-vehicle sales through the first 10 months of the year improved 7.2 percent to 1,857,374 vehicles.