Stellantis is offering a voluntary buyout package to its salaried US-based workforce, which currently totals approximately 11,000 people. Job reductions are never a good sign, but this news comes less than a week after Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares threatened to shut down brands in the company that were not making money.
Details of the buyout are unavailable. Automotive News cites a company email sent to employees on July 30 stating buyouts were available for all salaried positions up to vice president. Further information to employees regarding specific offers should come later in August. It's unknown how many offers will be made, but if too few people take the voluntary severance package, involuntary layoffs could follow.
A Stellantis representative offered the following statement to Motor1:
"As Stellantis continues to address inflationary pressures and, importantly, provide consumers with affordable vehicles at the highest quality, we remain focused on taking the necessary actions to reduce our costs to protect the long term sustainability of the company. One of those actions is offering a voluntary separation package to U.S. employees in certain functions. More detailed information will be provided to eligible employees in mid-August."
During last week's financial conference call, Tavares specifically called out Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). He said fixing North American operations was a priority for the company, namely addressing an ineffective marketing strategy and high vehicle inventories. FCA sales fell 21 percent in the second quarter and are down 16 percent through the first half of the year. All brands are down save for Fiat and Alfa Romeo, though neither comes close to the sales volume of companies like Jeep or Ram.
FCA's decline is undoubtedly a factor in Stellantis posting a 48-percent drop in global net profits.
"It is an understatement to say that H1 2024 results were disappointing and humbling," Tavares said. "It represents a perfect convergence of several headwinds that I will describe for you in a very transitional period that opens the road for a product blitz of 20 new products."
