Chrysler announces two-week summer break

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 13 (UPI) -- Chrysler LLC announced Thursday the company would shut down for two weeks in July "to accelerate Chrysler's recovery and transformation."

A memo to Chrysler employees from Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli says, "in order to create better alignment and efficiency across organizational lines and boost productivity, Chrysler will use a corporate-wide vacation shutdown for the weeks of July 7 and 14.

Analysts said it was not unusual for a car maker to shut down production temporarily in the summer months, but a corporate-wide shut down was unusual.

Only critical "business critical activities" and others with "minimal support staff" will operate, the memo said.