High-tech plant having problems with robots, causing shortages of hot-selling Caliber hatchback, paper reports.

A highly automated Chrysler plant is experiencing technical problems that are slowing the production of the hot-selling Dodge Caliber hatchback, according to a published report.

The Detroit News reports that the Chrysler assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., touted by some as the factory of the future, is being dogged by robots that weld and assemble cars bumping into each other. The problem is shutting production for anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour, according to the report, with one day the plant being shut for rest of a shift.

The factory, which the paper reports recently started building the Jeep Compass compact SUV, is 250 vehicles a day short of its daily production target of 1,050. Production of a third vehicle, the Jeep Patriot, will start later this year.
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BMW530i - 7/26/2006 5:53:51 PM

+1 Boost

I never thought I'd see "hot seller" and "Dodge Caliber" in one sentence. The car to me has no appeal and seems a half-hearted effort by DCX.