On Wednesday, Fiat Chrysler announced its decision to indefinitely lay off about 1,300 workers at its Sterling Heights plant in suburban Detroit.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the layoffs will take effect on July 5, which will mark “the first mass U.S. job cut by the auto maker since Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.”
The Sterling Heights plant makes the Chrysler 200 mid-size sedan, but Reuters reports that sales of the cars were down 63 percent.
Additionally, only 7,500 units were sold last month, which is less than half of what it sold this time last year.
The Detroit News reports that the news comes after about two months of temporary layoffs at the 5-million-square foot facility.
The plant was scheduled to reopen this week, but this was pushed to next week when only the plant’s second shift will return to work until the layoffs take effect on July 5.