This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
Diving certificate:
- Stellantis is preparing to lay off up to 2,450 workers at its Warren truck assembly plant in Michigan, the automaker confirmed in an email to Automotive Dive on Friday.
- The plant employs 3,700 UAW-represented workers, meaning the layoffs could affect over 60% of the plant’s hourly workers, but Stellantis said the actual number of employees affected will likely be lower.
- The layoffs are scheduled to begin as early as October 8, when production of the plant’s Ram Classic 1500 pickup truck ends later this year.
Diving insight:
During its investor day last month, Stellantis reported that its U.S. sales fell 21% year-over-year in the second quarter and its North American market share was “moderately declining.” As a result, the company is facing a growing inventory of unsold vehicles and is looking for ways to cut costs.
The Ram 1500 Classic will be replaced by the new Ram 1500 Tradesman, which is aimed primarily at commercial customers. The Tradesman, however, will be built at the automaker’s Sterling Heights assembly plant in Michigan, Reuters reported last week.
As a result, the Warren Plant will transition from a two-shift operation to a single-shift operation in main assembly. However, the Warren Plant will continue to build the Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer and will continue to operate a two-shift operation to support production of those models.
“With the introduction of the new Ram 1500, production of the Ram 1500 Classic at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant will cease later this year,” the automaker said in an emailed statement to Automotive Dive.
Stellantis said it would provide state and local governments and the UAW with legally required notices regarding worker adjustment and retraining measures.
Senior employees represented by the United Auto Workers will receive 52 weeks of additional unemployment benefits from Stellantis, as well as 52 weeks of transitional assistance, the company said. These benefits are in addition to any state unemployment benefits workers are eligible for. Laid-off workers will also receive two years of health insurance coverage.
The layoffs come after Stellantis announced last month that it would temporarily cut production at its Warren and Toledo South plants in Ohio. The automaker confirmed that it would temporarily lay off 1,600 workers at the Warren plant in July to adjust vehicle production to market demand.
After the temporary layoffs and production cuts were announced in Warren in early July, the UAW claimed it was a way for Stellantis to further cut its expenses after the union won historic wage increases for its members last fall. Plant workers are represented by UAW Local 889.
In response to the layoffs at Stellantis, UAW President Shawn Fain issued a statement criticizing the automaker’s leadership.
“Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is a disgrace and an embarrassment to what was once a great American company. While GM and Ford are reporting fantastic profits and increasing sales, Stellantis is regressing,” Fain said. “We have made it clear to Stellantis, both privately and publicly, that Tavares’ mismanagement of this company and his lack of commitment to American autoworkers are unacceptable.”
In North America, Stellantis’ first-quarter sales fell 20%, or nearly 100,000 units, as the automaker prepares its U.S. manufacturing facilities to produce next-generation vehicles. However, the company expects new product launches to drive growth in the second half of 2024.
