NORMAL - Mitsubishi Motors North America will stop production for seven weeks starting in mid-February, another consequence of the economy and the pain felt in the automobile industry these days.

Non-production is scheduled to begin Feb. 16 at the plant in Normal, spokesman Dan Irvin said Friday. Workers will begin to build cars again on April 6, he said.

Mitsubishi, which announced its plans to suppliers Friday, made the decision as a way to control inventory in an economic downturn, Irvin said.

The company sold 5,096 vehicles last month, a 36 percent drop from November 2007. At the same time, U.S. sales at General Motors and Chrysler dropped more than 40 percent, and Ford sales fell 31 percent, as consumer demand for new vehicles hit its lowest level in about 26 years.

Through November, Mitsubishi has sold 92,687 vehicles, a nearly 25 percent drop from the 123,089 sold in the same time period in 2007.

"We have to adjust our production schedule to meet demand," Irvin said. "Because of the projected demand, we wouldn't want to be building cars that would just build up our inventory during that time."

During non-production, workers will not build cars but can perform other maintenance tasks, Irvin said. Employees also may decide to take unpaid time off or use vacation days like they can at other times when Mitsubishi has non-production days or weeks, he said. Other options also may be added later, he said.

The car plant typically shuts down the production line around Christmas, for spring break in March and in the summer, but it's never been for this long, Irvin said. A two-week Christmas shutdown also is still planned.

Though the length of time is longer, the situation is otherwise no different from other non-production days in the past, said United Auto Workers Local 2488 President Ralph Timan.

Union members took a number of concessions in their most recent contract agreement this fall, including pay and benefit cuts, but they were guaranteed job security in return. Mitsubishi laid off about 1,200 workers in 2004 when the plant eliminated its second shift.

Current workers still will be able to come to work every day during the production suspension, Timan said.

"This is a severe economic downturn," Timan said. "These types of things are happening. Thankfully, we've got a collective bargaining agreement that will allow members to weather the storm."

The news - which is better than layoffs - also fits in with other economic news that continues to become increasingly bad, said Mike Seeborg, economics professor at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

Indicators now point to a recession that will be longer and more severe, lasting into a good part of next year, Seeborg said. Industries hardest hit by the recession, including the automotive industry, are part of the Twin City economy, he said.

"We know that sales are down at Mitsubishi, as sales are down at all automakers right now," Seeborg said. "It's hard to image a worse scenario for automakers right now."