As OEMs take niche vehicle assembly back in-house, and sales of the Chrysler Crossfire fail to take off, Karmann employees fear jobs will have to go at the Osnabrűck plant, reports Automobilwoche.
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Sales of the Chrysler Crossfire are well below expectations. In the first eight months of the year Chrysler sold just 2,675 units, 1,700 units less than the same period of 2004. Furthermore sales of the Crossfire are well below their 20,000 a year target in the US (10,276 Jan-Aug 2005). This means there is a question mark over whether the Crossfire will continue to be built in Osnabrűck until 2008 as planned, and whether it will be replaced.
Mercedes-Benz has already decided that the CLK successor will be built in its own plant in Bremen, rather than in Osnabrűck, and there are doubts that Audi will award Karmann a contract to assemble the next A4 Cabriolet as it has the expertise to build the car in-house.
Karmann employs 2,800 people in its assembly plant and they have had their hours cut since July 2005 under an agreement that runs until June 2006.
