Stellantis will cut the third shift at its Warren, Michigan truck assembly plant due to parts shortages. The automaker said there would be no layoffs as a result of the decision, but some employees may see their hours cut.
The plant produces several high-margin, and high-tech vehicles, including the Jeep Wagoneer, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, their new long-wheelbase variants, and the Ram Classic pickup truck.
Warren Truck Assembly is operated by 5,500 employees, and Eric Graham, the president of the United Auto Workers Local 140, which represents Stellantis employees at the plant, told The Detroit News that no one is being laid off.
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The plant will redeploy full-time employees who were on the third shift to different shifts. Part-time supplemental employees, however, will see their hours reduced, though there may be opportunities for them to redeploy to different plants in the Detroit area. It is not clear how many workers will be affected by this adjustment.
In a statement, a Stellantis spokesperson said that the decision to move the plant to two-shift operation was taken “to improve production efficiency.” They also cited the global semiconductor chip shortage as a main reason for the decision.
The Warren Truck Plant has faced criticisms for software issues found in the high-end Wagoneers. So far this year, Stellantis has sold fewer than 40,000 Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers. Ford, meanwhile, has sold more than 50,000 Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, while GM has sold 198,762 of its own full-size SUV models.
Supply chain issues, meanwhile, have dogged the entire automotive industry for years now, and few are optimistic that the semiconductor chip shortage will be resolved soon. Volkswagen recently announced that it doesn’t expect the problem to be resolved for months, if not years.
