Jeep dad or mum firm Stellantis on Friday stated it will indefinitely shut down a producing plant in Illinois and lay off roughly 1,350 staff early subsequent 12 months. The power – positioned in Belvidere, a metropolis 75 miles northwest of downtown Chicago – is answerable for producing the interior combustion engine Jeep Cherokee crossover. In a press release the automaker , Stellantis blamed the price of electrifying its automobiles for the transfer.
“[The automotive industry] has been adversely affected by a large number of things like the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide microchip scarcity, however probably the most impactful problem is the growing price associated to the electrification of the automotive market,” the corporate stated, including that it could shutter the ability completely because it considers what to do subsequent.
United Auto Employees Native 1268 store chairman Tim Ferguson advised Reuters that firm paperwork present Stellantis plans to maneuver Cherokee manufacturing to a facility in Toluca, Mexico. “To me, there is no such thing as a query about it,” he stated. “Their plan is to shut this plant.” Stellantis declined to touch upon Ferguson’s allegations. “We’re not commenting on the way forward for the Cherokee,” the corporate stated.
As , Stellantis isn’t the primary automaker in charge EVs for a current set of layoffs. In August, Ford . “We now have a chance to steer this thrilling new period of linked and electrical autos,” the automaker stated on the time. “Constructing this future requires altering and reshaping just about all points of the way in which we’ve operated for greater than a century.”
It’s additionally value noting Friday’s announcement got here on the identical day that staff at a Normal Motors-LG battery cell facility in Ohio voted overwhelmingly in . Unions in , , and different elements of the world lately requested Stellantis to boost employee wages by as a lot as 8.5 % following a 12 months of report international inflation. Within the , Stellantis stated income grew to €42.1 billion (roughly $44 billion), a 29 % from the identical interval final 12 months.
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