- The carmaker agreed with the UAW it wouldn’t build the 1500 in Mexico until it maxed out US production capacity.
- It’s unclear if gas-powered or electric versions of the 1500 are to be built south of the border.
- Stellantis’ existing Saltillo plant currently builds heavy-duty Ram pickups.
Stellantis is reportedly readying its factory complex in North Mexico to start building the Ram 1500, despite having a long history of manufacturing most of its light-duty trucks in Michigan.
The car manufacturer has been reportedly constructing additional factory space alongside its factory in Saltillo, Mexico. In the past few months, two buildings have been erected at the site. There’s no word on whether Ram plans to build gas-powered or electric versions of the 1500 at the plant.
Read: Stellantis Shipments Drop 20%, But It’s Finally Tackling Inventory Headache
In response to the report from The Wall Street Journal, Stellantis said it’ll continue to build Ram trucks at the Sterling Heights assembly plant in Detroit, adding that they had no other announcements to make about Ram 1500 production.
Word about plans to also build the Ram 1500 in Mexico could ramp up tensions between Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which have reached boiling point in the past few weeks. The UAW agreed to a historic new labor agreement with Stellantis last year, securing pay hikes and billions in investments in US manufacturing. Stellantis also agreed that it would max out capacity at its Sterling Heights facility before starting to build the Ram 1500 in Mexico.
The lead bargainer for Stellantis at the UAW, Kevin Gotinsky, says “there’s fear across the board,” and that “the shift is everything out of this country.”
The Stellantis plant in Saltillo has been building vehicles for Ram since the 1990s. It has a floor space of 212,850 square feet and builds vehicles, including the Ram 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 Heavy Duty. Ram also builds the ProMaster van at a separate plant in the same area. Data from Wards Intelligence reveals that roughly 27% of all Stellantis vehicles made in North America through August this year were built in Mexico.
