Jeep parent Stellantis is laying off approximately 1,100 United Auto Workers represented employees at its Toledo South Assembly Plant in Ohio, according to an emailed statement. The layoffs will be effective as early as Jan. 5, 2025.
In the statement, the automaker called it a “necessary action to reduce high inventory levels by managing production to meet sales.”
In accordance with the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement with the UAW, Stellantis will provide affected employees with one year of supplemental unemployment benefits equaling 74% of their pay. Impacted employees will also receive healthcare coverage for two years and one year of transition assistance.
Stellantis said it has issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices to the respective state and local governments, as well as the UAW.
The plant currently produces the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator. But Stellantis is facing slowing sales in North America, so the company is moving from a two-shift to a one-shift operating pattern at the plant to curb production numbers. Stellantis said its focus is on “realigning its U.S. operations to ensure a strong start to 2025.”
Stellantis said in September it was planning shipments of 200,000 fewer vehicles in the second half of the year, up from the 100,000 units it originally forecast. The company also aims to have no more than 330,000 units of dealer inventory in the U.S. by the end of the year, making production cuts necessary to meet that goal.
“These are difficult actions to take, but they are necessary to enable the company to regain its competitive edge and eventually return production to prior levels,” Stellantis wrote in the statement.
Stellantis’ Q3 YoY sales fell 20.8% in the U.S. to 301,293 from 380,563. Sales of the Gladiator fell by 35% year over year in Q3, while Wrangler sales are down 14% in the same period.
The automaker also reported a year-over-year net revenue decline of 27% in Q3 to 33 billion euros ($36 billion), from 45.1 billion euros a year earlier.
