Stellantis will offer buyout packages to an unknown number of U.S. salaried workers in its ongoing effort to reduce its overall costs. In an email to employees the automaker outlined that the offers would be delivered in mid-August to eligible employees among the roughly 11,000 U.S. salaried staff, without identifying the qualifying factors.
It’s not known if a similar offer will be made to Stellantis salaried workers in other regions.
The buyout offer will include severance pay based on an individual’s length of employment, plus lump-sum payments and job-placement service.
In March of this year Stellantis announced it would lay off 400 salaried employees, and in 2023 it offered buyouts to 3,500 salaried workers.
Stellantis indicated it has a cost-saving target for its plan, and it may resort to involuntary terminations if the goal is not reached among those presented with the buyout offers. “We must continue to adapt by streamlining operations and finding efficiencies that will enhance our competitiveness to ensure our future sustainability and growth,” according to the emailed message.
The automaker’s first-half 2024 results reported in mid-July included a -48% drop in net profit ($6.07 billion) versus January-June 2023. The company pinned much of its loss on decreased revenue in North America.
Like all automakers, Stellantis is striving to make its vehicles more affordable to consumers in an economy shaped by persistent inflation and high interest rates.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, commenting on the earnings report, observed that the auto industry is struggling to appeal to buyers and simultaneously to fulfill the expectations to invest in new vehicle technologies. He pointed out that North American vehicle inventories remain too high and that Stellantis will have to provide discounts to reduce the overhead.
