Detroit, Michigan – Reflecting the difficulties its North American operations face, Stellantis said on Friday that 400 employees of a Detroit logistics center would be permanently laid off. The manufacturer is cutting jobs in order to help to simplify expenses and increase profitability in its U.S. market, which has struggled in recent years.
Employed at the Freud Street sequencing facility in Detroit, a logistics center supplying goods to the surrounding Mack and Jefferson assembly plants, the impacted employees are Stellantis acknowledged that it would move this facility to a third-party service provider, a change the company believes necessary to “realize its U.S. operations” for a better start in 2025.
While Stellantis aims to lower costs across several sites, the Detroit cuts follow a pattern of layoffs this year. Just a few days before, the company said that its Jeep Gladiator manufacturing facility in Toledo, Ohio will be cutting about 1,100 jobs. Earlier, in August, Stellantis stopped manufacture of the Ram 1500 Classic model, therefore ending as much as 2,450 union employment at its Warren Truck Assembly Plant. The sequence of job losses for Stellantis is a component of a more general cost-cutting plan headed by CEO Carlos Tavares, who has highlighted rebuilding the business to solve deteriorating sales and profit margins in the United States.
Stellantis has noted that these layoffs are necessary to remain competitive. But the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has fiercely attacked the company’s policies, characterizing them as managerial mistakes rather than reactions to economic realities. “These layoffs are the direct result of short-sighted management decisions at Stellantis, not market conditions,” the UAW said in a statement. “Ford and GM aren’t facing these issues. Stellantis has showered its shareholders with over $8 billion this year, yet claims it can’t invest in Toledo and Detroit? It’s unacceptable.”
Pointing to Stellantis’s large shareholder dividends during a string of factory closings and layoffs, the UAW contends that the company’s financial priorities seem out of line.
“Our members are ready to build Jeeps, but management’s missteps are standing in their way. We are prepared to use every tool in our arsenal to fight back,” the UAW reads.
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Beyond current issues, Stellantis’s North American operations are uncertain about possible legislative changes in the automobile industry. Recently, President-elect Donald Trump said he would levy a 100% tariff on Stellantis should the manufacturer try to move American jobs to Mexico. This comment captures increased political scrutiny of manufacturers’ employment policies, especially for those depending on union workers.
Complicating matters further, Stellantis has experienced internal changes as well. Recently reorganizing the top management team of the company, CEO Carlos Tavares declared intentions to retire following the conclusion of his term in early 2026. Along with financial demands, this phase of change has left Stellantis negotiating a difficult terrain as it looks for consistency and expansion in North America.
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Under these difficulties, Stellantis’s stock has plummeted; this year it dropped almost 41%. Although the corporation has tried to control layoffs through voluntary buyouts among salaried staff, cuts among unionized manufacturing workers have attracted most attention. Stellantis is under increasing pressure to realign its policies and handle operational inefficiencies as well as the needs of its workers amid ongoing UAW criticism and prospective tariffs on horizon.