US car maker Chrysler will shut down its entire operation for two weeks this July to save money.

Chrysler said today it plans to shut all but its most essential operations worldwide for two weeks in July, a first for the struggling US-based carmaker as it attempts to cut costs and preserve cash.

Chrysler, which is in a restructuring that includes trimming some vehicle lines and buyouts for its 44,000 Amrican hourly workers, lost $1.6 billion in 2007.

Chief executive of the car group, Robert Nardelli, told employees in a memo that the move would “accelerate Chrysler’s recovery and transformation,” the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.

Mr Nardelli said employees will have to take vacation for the two weeks this summer, and added the move was being undertaken “in order to create better alignment and efficiency across organizational lines and boost productivity.”

Chrysler was recently sold to private equity group Cerberus by German carmaker DaimlerChrysler.

The two-week shutdown is part of a recovery plan that will cut 13,000 jobs in Canada and the US and pare back production.

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