Shuttering factories temporarily in order to manage inventory levels... this is simply taking advantage of the supply-demand equation where dealers will list higher prices because the customer's choices are forced to be "slim." This is all fueled by the greed for higher profits, executive bonuses and shareholder satisfaction. Screw the real customers. They could still make a reasonable profit with larger inventories and lower sticker prices, but they don't.
Reminds me of the Apple business model: Apple could pay higher wages to American workers and still make a decent profit, but instead they choose the highest profits possible by shipping labor overseas and not employing Americans. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
There used to be a day when companies built up a very successful business by focusing on customer satisfaction and building a solid, reliable reputation for quality and value.