- The carmaker first announced in August that layoffs were imminent.
- Several Stellantis brands are struggling with massive inventories across the US.
- The cuts come at the same time Stellantis battles with the United Auto Workers union.
Stellantis is axing 1,100 jobs in Warren, Michigan, and has revealed that more job cuts are on the cards on the back of declining sales, compounding a slew of recent issues for the carmaking giant.
The company started cutting jobs at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant over the weekend after it stopped building the Ram 1500 Classic. These layoffs were first announced in August. Some more senior employees could be reassigned to other Stellantis plants. In a statement, a Stellantis spokeswoman said the company “will be implementing indefinite layoffs of represented employees across its footprint.”
Read: Stellantis Isn’t Just Axing The Ram 1500 Classic, But 2,450 Workers Who Build It
It’s unclear how many more job cuts Stellantis is planning, NPR notes. According to head of insights at Edmunds, Jessica Caldwell, Stellantis has made missteps in the US in selling fancier and more expensive vehicles, in particular for the Jeep brand.
“Jeep is sort of that rugged, do-anything, go-anywhere, very basic American brand,” she says. “[Now] they’re expensive. They’re flashy and it seems like it’s kind of missing the mark in terms of where people are right now.”
Several Stellantis brands are battling with burgeoning inventories in the United States. At the start of June, Jeep and Ram both had at least twice the industry average of inventory and these aren’t the only brands struggling with a glut of supplies. Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, and Dodge, all have inventories well beyond the industry average. The Dodge Hornet and Jeep Grand Wagoneer were recently revealed to be the slowest-selling new vehicles in the country, and both have a 428-day supply.
Compounding recent problems for Stellantis is that its profits declined 48% in the first six months of the year.
Stellantis is also in the midst of a bitter dispute with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. It recently filed eight new lawsuits against the union and 23 of its local chapters after threats from union representatives to initiate strikes in response to the automaker’s delay in making planned investments at its Belvidere, Illinois, plant.
