Stellantis is cutting one shift at the Detroit Assembly Mack plant where the Jeep Grand Cherokee is built not because of a lack of demand but rather due to emissions regulations in California.
The manufacturer has revealed that the Mack site will drop from three shifts to two shifts “temporarily.” It is not yet known how many fewer Grand Cherokee models will be produced due to the change nor how the change will impact the 4,600 employees who work at the site.
In a statement issued to Reuters, Stellantis said the production change was being made “in part because of the need to manage sales of the vehicles they produce to comply with California emissions regulations that are measured on a state-by-state basis.”
For more than six months, the company has been limiting the shipment of gasoline-powered vehicles to dealers in states that have adopted California’s strict emissions rules to comply with these stricter regulations. Stellantis has also “at times” limited the sale of plug-in EVs to states adopting California rules and only shipped vehicles ordered directly by customers to some other states.
This isn’t the only production change that Stellantis is making. It has been confirmed that the Jeep Wrangler production plant in Toledo, Ohio will move from an alternative work schedule to a two-shift operation. It has confirmed this change will lead to job cuts and is warning more than 3,600 employees of possible job impacts.
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The change has been made in Ohio to help “in the event that a change in the regulations or marketplace allows for an increase in volumes.”
Stellantis has had its attempts to join an agreement alongside Ford, Honda, VW, and BMW with California rebuffed in the past. It has contended that joining the agreement “would allow Stellantis to comply with alternative California standards based on our nationwide sales.”
