DETROIT (AP) -- Chrysler LLC said Monday it will indefinitely close one Missouri plant and cut production at another due to slumping demand for pickup trucks and minivans.

Officials with the Auburn Hills-based automaker said in a conference call that it will shutter the St. Louis South plant, which makes minivans, effective Oct. 31. The St. Louis North plant, which makes full-size pickups, will be cut from two shifts to one effective Sept. 2.

Chrysler said the moves would affect 2,400 jobs. That includes 1,500 at the minivan plant and another 900 at the pickup truck plant, which both are in Fenton, a St. Louis suburb.

Chrysler President and Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said the company has no plans to reopen the minivan plant.

"We see no need for the capacity in the future," he said, adding that demand can be handled by three shifts at Chrysler's other minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario.

LaSorda also denied rumors that Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, planned to sell the company in pieces.

"Hogwash, absolutely not being considered at all," he said. "Absolutely no relevance. I don't even want to entertain those questions."

He would not say if workers at the pickup truck plant could be recalled, adding that the company never announces whether a shift cut is permanent "because that is something we cannot foresee."

The company will hold meetings with affected workers to review severance programs, LaSorda said.

LaSorda blamed the moves on a slowing economy, high gasoline prices and a shift in consumer demand from larger vehicles to smaller, more fuel-efficient ones.

He said the private company is meeting or exceeding its financial targets but "this environment is forcing us to make some very difficult decisions."

Vice Chairman and President Jim Press said despite the cuts, Chrysler remains bullish on the minivan and pickups. He said there's a market for people who need pickups for work, and that minivans are fuel-efficient alternatives to big sport utility vehicles.