Owner of Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot brands pushes back against rules that force sale of more electric vehicles
The owner of car brands including Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot has reported a steep fall in sales, blaming production delays and flagging European demand.
Stellantis reported revenues on Thursday of €33bn (£27.6bn) for the July to September quarter, a drop of 27% compared with the same period a year earlier.
Continue reading...Stellantis chief says company is nearing decision on Ellesmere Port and Luton amid row over EV quotas
The owner of the Vauxhall, Citroën and Peugeot brands has said a decision will be made on the future of its UK plants “in the next few weeks”, amid a row over government electric vehicle quotas.
Carlos Tavares, the outgoing chief executive of Stellantis, has said the company is nearing a decision on the future of Ellesmere Port and Luton.
Continue reading...A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are ‘lethal’ in collisions
The engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. “A truck is a tool,” he says, “but a Ram – a Ram is life.”
So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy. It is growing in popularity in Europe, with the number of Rams arriving on the continent up 20% in 2023 from the year before, according to registration data from the European Environment Agency. Road safety and environmental campaigners in the UK and Europe are aghast as the latest, most extreme cases of North American car bloat – giant pickup trucks – are increasingly crossing the Atlantic.
Continue reading...Stellantis slashes growth forecast, with Aston Martin maker also warning of problems as car industry’s woes deepen
The owner of Vauxhall, Fiat and Peugeot has issued a profit warning, blaming a hit to sales from a deterioration in the global automotive market and increased competition from Chinese rivals.
Stellantis shares plunged by 14% on Monday after it said it expected profit margins to be between 5.5% and 7% for the year, down from the previous forecast of double-digit growth.
Continue reading...The owner of Vauxhall, Jeep and Fiat says it opposes EU measures against Chinese EVs and wants to compete ‘as a global company’
The owner of the Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall brands has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales, amid signs of an escalating trade war in the market between Europe and China.
Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has criticised the EU tariffs on imported Chinese cars announced on Wednesday and said the world’s fourth biggest carmaker preferred to “fight to stay competitive”.
Continue reading...Negotiators will outline terms to local union officials on Saturday, including reopening automaker’s Belvidere plant, sources say
The United Auto Workers (UAW) reached a tentative labor deal with Chrysler owner Stellantis on Saturday, two sources said, moving closer to securing record wage hikes and a new life for a Jeep factory shut down earlier this year.
The tentative deal is a big step towards ending the first simultaneous strike against the so-called “Detroit Three” automakers, and will follow a template set just days ago by UAW and Ford, including a 25% wage hike over the 4.5-year-long contract.
Continue reading...Agreement is pending union leadership approval and is the first settlement in the strike against big three automakers
Ford Motor Company and the negotiators of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a labor deal on Wednesday, pending union leadership approval.
A deal would be the first settlement of strikes against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
Continue reading...Senator kicks off United Auto Workers’ largest strike against US’s big three carmakers amid record company profits
US car workers striking against the nation’s three biggest automakers “are waging … a fight against the outrageous level of corporate greed” seen across the country, Bernie Sanders said on Friday.
The liberal US senator’s remarks came on Friday afternoon during a rally with the United Auto Workers in Detroit, Michigan, kicking off the first day of the union’s “Stand Up” strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford.
Continue reading...Plans to restart negotiations come after about 13,0000 workers walked out of three factories run by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis
As we wait for Joe Biden to deliver remarks on the UAW strikes, here is what industry experts and lawmakers are saying about the strikes, Reuters reports:
Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations says:
“It’s not a devastating hit to the communities. It’s not a devastating hit for the strike fund. It’s not a devastating hit on the balance sheet for any of the automakers but it starts to raise the stakes, which was the intent.
“I think they are making progress at the table ... the initial (automaker) offers were much lower, like 9% (wage) increases and now you’re up to 20% for increases. So that’s more than double. You’re seeing the UAW come down. You’re no longer hearing anything about the 32-hour work week from the UAW,” he added.
“This is more of a symbolic strike than an actual damaging one ... If the negotiations don’t go in a direction that [UAW President Shawn] Fain thinks is positive, we can fully expect a larger strike coming in a week or two.”
“If the strike lasts longer than three to four weeks, it will be moderately detrimental to GM and Ford’s EV strategy in 2024 ... While the Detroit stalwarts battle with the UAW, there’s a bottle of champagne that’s being iced at Tesla headquarters,” he says.
“I’m looking forward to joining our auto workers on the picket line this weekend. For the sake of Michigan’s economy and our working families, I hope this strike is short-lived ... I hope the UAW and the Big Three continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible.”
Continue reading...United Auto Workers union unable to agree deal with Ford, GM and Stellantis, who have seen profits and executive pay soar
Auto workers have launched a series of strikes after their union failed to reach agreement with the US’s three largest manufacturers over a new contract, kicking off the most ambitious industrial labor action in decades.
The deadline for talks between Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW) expired at midnight on Thursday, with the sides still far apart on the union’s new contract priorities.
Continue reading...World’s fourth biggest carmaker threatens to move production to US unless government matches incentives offered to Volkswagen
Jeep maker Stellantis has threatened to shift a planned battery plant from Canada to the US unless it receives billions more in state subsidies offered to a rival, in the latest manoeuvre by a big manufacturer in the international battle over green incentives.
It comes as the world’s fourth biggest carmaker, which also produces Vauxhall/Opel, Fiat, Citroën, Peugeot, DS, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Abarth vehicles, leads a campaign in Europe for the UK and EU to renegotiate tariff rules in the Brexit deal.
Continue reading...Carmakers call on Britain to change rules on batteries that they say threaten electric vehicle production
Three big global carmakers have called on the UK government to renegotiate the Brexit deal, saying rules on where parts are sourced from threaten the future of the British automotive industry.
Ford and Jaguar Land Rover have joined Stellantis, which owns the Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën brands, to warn the transition to electric vehicles will be knocked off course unless the UK and EU delay stricter “rules of origin”, due to kick in next year, that could add tariffs on car exports.
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