Thousands of auto workers at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex are laid off today and production has shut down at three other Chrysler LLC plants nationally because of a dispute between the firm and a struggling parts supplier.

The problem, the center of a court dispute today in Detroit, could get worse, as Chrysler said it threatens production at all of its vehicle assembly factories nationwide.

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The lack of parts from Plastech meant the automaker had to stop vehicle assembly work indefinitely in Toledo, Sterling Heights, Mich., Newark, Del., and Belvidere, Ill., affecting 10,500 employees.Plastech, a key supplier based in Dearborn, Mich., makes molded interior, exterior, and powertrain components. It has 36 facilities and 7,600 employees in the United States and Canada, generating more than $1.4 billion in sales last year. It has four plants in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

At Toledo Jeep, work has stopped at the factory making Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro and has shut down at least part of the Jeep Wrangler production at next-door factories, the company said. The complex has 4,000 Chrysler workers and hundreds of on-site supplier workers.