The Stellantis automobile group confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Saturday December 21, that it would reconsider the dismissal of 1,100 employees from its Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio (United States). The company says it is reviewing its strategy in North America after the departure of its now former boss, Carlos Tavares, on December 1.
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“No employee will be laid off from January 5 as initially planned due to a reduction in rotations”a spokesperson for the group told AFP, confirming information initially published by the specialized agency Bloomberg. “All staff are expected to work as planned after the New Year”added the Stellantis spokesperson.
The layoffs at the Toledo factory were announced at the beginning of November, with Stellantis justifying these departures by the need to ” find “ competitiveness for the site, which assembles Jeep cars. The plan also provided for certain activities, concerning 400 employees, to be “transferred to an external service provider”.
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Sharp declines in sales and turnover
According to the manufacturer, it was a question of adapting production to activity, which plunged in the third quarter by 20% to 1.15 million vehicles delivered. The group's turnover collapsed over this period in North America (– 42%, to 12.4 billion euros) due to a drop in sales and promotions launched to reduce vehicle stocks. .
But Stellantis has fundamentally revised its approach since the departure of Mr. Tavares, the new interim general manager notably giving guarantees to the French and Italian governments on the maintenance of its production and investments in the two countries.
Stellantis, born in 2021 from the merger of the Italian-American groups FCA (Fiat-Chrysler) and French PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, DS…), had 258,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2023. In a letter addressed to its members, that AFP was able to consult, the director of the American union of automobile industry workers UAW within Stellantis, Kevin Gotinsky, estimated Thursday that “we were heading in the right direction” after the departure of Carlos Tavares and he was optimistic about the possibility of seeing management reverse its decision concerning the Toledo site.
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