labyrinth – United Auto Workers (UAW) leaders in the Detroit area have expressed concern and frustration in recent weeks about the potential for more Ram pickups to be shipped to Mexico.
Stellantis NV, the parent company of Ram, Jeep and other brands, announced plans Friday for up to 2,450 layoffs at its Warren truck assembly plant in early October after production of the Ram 1500 Classic ends and the plant’s main assembly shifts to one shift.
UAW officials in Warren say they could maintain a second shift if the plant could absorb excess production of the latest-generation Ram 1500 from the nearby Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) once it reaches capacity. But that is not certain.
Both the union and analysts say it appears that excess work will be shifted to a factory in Mexico, a prospect that is sure to cause tension between the UAW and CEO Carlos Tavares, whose public criticism of the union workforce is growing louder. A Stellantis spokesman said last week that a decision on excess production had not yet been announced.
“We build trucks. That’s our job,” said Eric Graham, president of Warren Truck’s UAW Local 140, before the layoffs were announced. “And now if they tell us we’re not even good enough to build your surplus production? That’s a slap in the face for a lot of employees.”
SHAP union leaders have their own longer-term concerns about moving Ram 1500 production to Mexico, possibly after the current UAW contract expires in 2028. Those concerns intensified after Tavares late last month mentioned problems with the plant’s “direct production rate,” or the number of trucks that need repairs after final assembly.
Michael Spencer, president of Local 1700, which represents SHAP workers, interpreted the comments as an attempt by the company to create the impression in the public eye – “a form of sabotage,” he said – that the plant was not up to the task of building the new Ram 1500. The plant builds the 2025 gas-powered truck and is also expected to produce the electric and extended-range electric versions under the UAW’s contract with the company.
The Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant is the manufacturing facility in Mexico where a number of Ram trucks have long been built, including current heavy-duty and commercial vehicle versions such as the 2500, 3500, 4500 and 5500.
Stellantis is not the only company that makes full-size trucks outside the U.S. General Motors Co. builds trucks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Ford Motor Co. makes them in Dearborn, Kentucky and Ohio. But after the UAW strike last fall, CEO Jim Farley said the company needed to “think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint.” Last month, the company said its Oakville assembly plant in Canada would build some of its F-Series Super Duty trucks starting in 2026.
“Down the road from SHAP”
Warren Truck will continue to build the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs through at least 2028, according to the UAW contract. However, the contract does not mention any new vehicles coming to the plant in the next few years.
Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, said one vehicle is a strong candidate for the plant: the Ram 1500 Ramcharger, which will be battery-powered but has a built-in gasoline engine for charging.
The Ramcharger will share many components with a similar so-called EREV version of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer that Warren Truck is expected to launch next year, he said, so it might make sense to build them together, “but we haven’t seen any plans for that yet.”
Still, according to Graham and recent letters from other union leaders, there was real hope that Warren Truck could take over the remaining work on the gasoline-powered Ram pickup. That made sense, since the plant has been building the Classic pickup and various other versions of the Ram and Dodge trucks for decades.
Graham said the company raised concerns about costs, production efficiency, quality and employee attendance at Warren Truck earlier this year. However, three of four of those issues have been resolved, he said, with attendance still being a problem in recent months. The attendance problem can also be resolved, he said, with some help from the company with child care and scheduling.
“We’re right down the road from SHAP,” Graham said, noting that the two facilities are about a 15-minute drive apart on Mound Road. “And I just don’t understand why we don’t get it (the overflow), and nobody can understand it.”
He added: “I haven’t been in the boardrooms of Stellantis… I don’t know what they’re talking about. But one thing I do know is that it’s much cheaper to build a car in Mexico. You pay the workers less.”
UAW President Shawn Fain mentioned in a recent letter to Stellantis members that “the surplus is not going to Warren Truck,” but vowed to continue fighting to maintain Ram production in the U.S. UAW officials have acknowledged that it was always possible that the surplus work could be moved to Mexico because of the contract language.
A so-called “dual-source” letter included in the contract allowed for part of the Ram series to be produced elsewhere in North America, but guaranteed SHAP’s work until the end of the contract term.
“The company has clarified that while Sterling Heights Assembly will produce ICE, BEV and REPB Ram 1500 models, it may be necessary to establish a dual source in North America” to produce the gas-powered truck after the electric truck launches later this year to “meet market demand,” the dual-source letter said. It adds that production volumes at SHAP cannot be scaled back unless the secondary spillover site is closed first.
Marick Masters, professor emeritus of business administration at Wayne State University and a UAW expert, said it’s likely that negotiations could still take place between the union and the company over the Ram spillover site. But overall, he said it’s not surprising that Stellantis is aiming to move more production to lower-cost Mexico to save money as it shifts to electric vehicles.
Fain sharply criticized the layoff announcement on Friday. In a statement, he said taxpayers, workers and consumers have invested in Stellantis and “it’s time for Stellantis to invest in us.” He claimed Tavares had mismanaged the company and shown no commitment to America’s autoworkers.
“We continue to evaluate options for Warren Truck,” Jodi Tinson, a Stellantis spokeswoman, said in an email Tuesday.
Graham said meetings with company management and its members are planned for later this week.
SHAP quality issues
Tavares told reporters last month that some U.S. plants, including SHAP, had too low direct capacity utilization. That means too many trucks had to be repaired after the fact, which increases costs, delays vehicle deliveries and can lead to other quality problems, said the CEO, who is scheduled to visit the plant this month.
“When you do a repair outside the main line, you can always fix what you need to fix, but you create a new problem,” Tavares said.
Tavares said it has been a “painful” time for its American manufacturing operations, but production rate issues and other problems with suppliers in the U.S. that led to plant closures, as well as product mix issues as production of certain trims and models did not meet demand, have paid off in recent years.
“SHAP is the primary site for Ram 1500 production and we continue to work with the union and our workforce to improve production there,” Tinson said.
Spencer, the local union leader, acknowledged that the plant has faced challenges since the 2025 Ram 1500 was launched earlier this year. A common problem has been the truck’s electrical systems, he said, including wiring harnesses and modules. At one point, a “significant volume” – several thousand – of pickups were waiting for repairs, he said.
But Spencer, who has worked at the plant for 24 years, said the blame had been wrongly placed on the plant itself and the workers.
“It all has to do with engineering and supplier issues,” he said, adding that he believes Tavares is trying to make a case for moving more Ram production to Mexico once the current contract ends. Spencer and other union officials recently laid out their SHAP concerns — from the electrical component issues to worries about production in Mexico — in a podcast aimed at members but that has also attracted attention elsewhere.
“You have the plant in Mexico – we know that wages are lower there and we know that safety regulations are a little more lax there,” Spencer said.
The union leader said he wants to work with the CEO to resolve the issues and secure the vehicle at the plant long-term, but he said there is nothing inherently wrong with a workforce that has built a pickup truck that has won multiple MotorTrend Truck of the Year awards.
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