Stellantis is looking to cut costs, and its next moves could have a significant impact on its Detroit-area workforce. Company CEO Carlos Tavares vowed to implement measures to reduce the automaker’s expenditures, which could come with job cuts.
Tavares said, “We have at least two plants that need a significant turnaround, at least two.”
To accomplish that feat, Tavares called in reinforcements from Stellantis’ European operations and said the company would focus on EVs and cost management to better compete with the growing threat from China.
Overall, Tavares wants to slash 30 percent of Stellantis’ costs, which could amount to thousands of layoffs. Outsourcing engineering and other departments to countries with lower labor costs will help reduce some of the automaker’s overhead, much of which comes from the top-earning Chrysler Group (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram) in Detroit. The layoffs may also come with a reduction in Stellantis’ Detroit-metro real estate footprint as the company sheds a significant portion of its workforce.
One of the most interesting parts of this situation is that Stellantis, and by extension, the Chrysler Group, is increasingly considered a foreign company instead of a traditional American automaker. The company’s shift to relying on European executives for this turnaround effort and its willingness to move important parts of its business unit overseas indicate that we could be seeing a foundational shift in how Americans and car buyers see Stellantis products.
[Images: Stellantis]
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