By Boris Ladwig, The Republic
bladwig@therepublic.com
Cummins Inc. has temporarily laid off another 50 Midrange employees and moved about 80 more to other south-central Indiana plants as American consumers continue to shun big trucks with big engines.
Cummins in early June laid off 163 employees at Columbus Midrange Engine Plant near Walesboro because of declining demand for Dodge Ram pickup trucks.
CMEP is the exclusive provider of 6.7-liter diesel engines for the Ram.
On Monday, Cummins laid off another 50. It expects to hire back all 213 by mid-August when new engines will be needed for the 2009 model year.
The company also recently moved another 80 employees to other south-central Indiana facilities such as the Fuel Systems Plant.
Those employees were asked which plant and which shift they would prefer, and the company accommodated the employees wherever it could, said Mark Land, director of public relations.
He lauded the Diesel Workers Union and the employees because their cooperation has kept disruptions to a minimum.
Before the most recent actions, about 720 employees worked at the plant.
Falling out of favor
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.
On Tuesday, General Motors Corp. said it intends to reduce truck production capacity by 300,000 units, 150,000 more than it announced at its annual meeting in June. It also said it will speed up previously announced closures of some truck and sport utility vehicle factories.
Land recently 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. He had no updated figures on Tuesday.
Land also said Tuesday that Cummins is considering to move more non-Ram midrange business to CMEP to somewhat offset the declining Dodge business.
The company for months has had to adjust staffing at CMEP in response to fluctuating engine demand, including a reduction of 90 workers in October and an extended Christmas layoff for 500 DWU members.
Associated Press contributed to this report.