WFCN –
As manufacturing of a legendary truck comes to an end, a huge American automaker is presently letting go of thousands of plant employees.
Approximately 2,450 employees would be let go from Stellantis’s U.S. plants, according to the company.
This decision is made at the same time that the firm is getting ready to stop making the “Classic,” an older model of the famous Ram 1500 pickup truck.
Ram debuted a new generation of 1500s in 2018, with the Classic serving as a more inexpensive choice for entry-level purchasers and fleet clients.
Located close to Detroit, the Warren Truck Assembly Plant is presently producing the Classic Ram 1500 in addition to the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.
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The 2025 model year saw some upgrades to the more modern Ram 1500, but that won’t stop production at its adjacent plant.
Stellantis has stated that the Classic Ram 1500 would cease manufacture later this year, although they have not disclosed any replacement plans for the truck at this time.
Everybody from city councils to employees to the organization that represents them—the United Auto Workers—is worried about the plant’s future because there is no replacement plan.
Last week, Ram CEO Chris Feuell announced to CNBC that the “Classic” pickup model will be discontinued at the year’s end.
In regards to the layoffs, UAW President Shawn Fain criticized Stellantis’s leadership.
“Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is a disgrace and an embarrassment to a once-great American company,” Fain said in an emailed statement Friday night.
At the same time as he fires thousands of autoworkers, Tavares increases his own salary by 56%.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is so incompetent that he could terminate any employee who performed half as poorly.
We anticipate that layoffs will begin in October at the latest.
There may be fewer extended layoffs in the end at the Warren facility than what was reported. Approximately 3,700 hourly workers are currently employed there.
Transfers to other plants or new positions may be in store for certain workers.
Stellantis has reduced output at multiple factories due to sales challenges and cost-cutting initiatives, and the layoffs are the most recent development in this regard.
After its formation in January 2021 as a result of a merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe of France, Tavares set out to reduce costs.
This is in line with his “Dare Forward 2030” strategy, which aims to quadruple revenue to 300 billion euros ($325 billion) by 2030 and quadruple earnings.
In an attempt to cut expenses and personnel, the carmaker this week extended a wide voluntary buyout to salaried employees in the United States.
In its poor first-half results report last month, Stellantis warned that involuntary terminations could occur if not enough workers take part in the buyout.