By Boris Ladwig, The Republic
bladwig@therepublic.com
Despite the worst June for the car industry in 17 years, Cummins Inc. still expects to rehire in mid-August the 163 Columbus Midrange Engine Plant employees who temporarily were laid off about a month ago.
CMEP, near Walesboro, is the exclusive provider of 6.7-liter diesel engines for the Dodge Ram pickup truck.
All major automakers but Honda Motor Co. reported steep sales declines for June as buyers continued to flee from trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient models. High gas prices and a sluggish economy helped keep sales low.
Big auto makers' sales in June:
Chrysler: -36 percent.
Ford: -28
Toyota: -21
General Motors: -18
Nissan: -18
Honda: +1
Cummins on May 30 had asked for 125 volunteers at CMEP for a layoff because of declining demand for Dodge Rams. In early June, 163 employees volunteered. The company said it expects to bring them back in mid-August when new engines will be needed for the 2009 model year.
Meanwhile, Cummins has brought into the plant some non-Chrysler production to offset some of the decline, said Mark Land, director of public relations.
He said that in April, the heavy-duty segment of the pickup truck market had declined by 50 percent from a year earlier, but that Cummins' share of the market was holding steady.
Although the overall market has fallen substantially, customers have liked the Dodge truck and the Cummins engine, he said.
Cummins shares fell 5.1 percent Wednesday and closed at $61.77. The Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 fell between 1.46 and 2.32 percent after oil rose to a record high $144 per barrel.
Associated Press contributed to this report.