Stellantis Lays Off Thousands Pocketing Hundreds of Millions in Biden EV Subsidies

Foreign Automaker Lays Off Thousands of Michigan Workers after Pocketing Hundreds of Millions in Biden EV Subsidies

A multinational automaker prepared to lay off more than 2,000 American workers in August after benefiting handsomely from the Biden administration's subsidies for electric-vehicle production

Stellantis, the parent company to famous brands like Ram and Jeep, has been awarded hundreds of millions in grants from the federal government to promote its EV manufacturing. But the Biden administration's largesse has not prevented the company from laying off American workers.

In July, the Department of Energy awarded Stellantis subsidiary Chrysler a $334.8 million grant to convert a shuttered Illinois plant into a facility for building EVs and another $250 million grant

National review

And they still vote Democrat.

Obama did the same thing with "green energy", paid his buddies millions then they went bankrupt after getting the money. CNN

It’s a pattern, rinse - repeat.

And then they mysteriously Make millions while in office.

Solyndra was the first thing that crossed my mind.

a reply to: pianopraze

Here's an idea. This may be too far out of the box for "corporate" but why not keep the jobs and turn the plant into a regular car plant instead of electric cars. Who wants an electric car? Now that I read about UPS flight 6 I'm too paranoid of the battery blowing up or catching fire I dont want that thing plugged into my house.

a reply to: Shoshanna

They'd have to go through massive retooling. It's easier and more profitable to just take the money and run.

ETA - The quality is sketchy as hell at best. You may get a good car, you might not. They're a mish mash of companies like Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat and don't have a very good rep. I think they'll kill the electric, declare bankruptcy and then go after more government money to finance retooling for gas engines.

The treasury looting scheme worked like a charm for Obama, worked again didn't it. 🤣🤣🤣

Big Democrat Bills always have looting inside.

A good chunk of change went into the Biden family LLCs.

a reply to: pianopraze

I have had several Jeeps in the past, newest one before 2000. From what I have heard of the ones from the past 10 years or so, I would not take a new one if you gave it to me. Jeep is just a brand with no real reputation left for new vehicles.

And yes, EVs can and do catch fire.

a reply to: 777Vader

...securing that UAW endorsement.

originally posted by: Shoshanna
a reply to: pianopraze

Here's an idea. This may be too far out of the box for "corporate" but why not keep the jobs and turn the plant into a regular car plant instead of electric cars. Who wants an electric car? Now that I read about UPS flight 6 I'm too paranoid of the battery blowing up or catching fire I dont want that thing plugged into my house.

First, in response to your question about "who wants an electric car?", here's a typical market forecast:



rmi.org...

EVs could be 50% of all new car sales well before the end of the decade. That's why Stellantis wants to ramp up EV production and ramp down ICE production.

Second, it looks like you didn't read the article.

"Unlike its competitors, Stellantis has begun to turn a profit on electric vehicles, and will continue moving full-steam ahead with its electrification process."
.............
"Stellantis is set to lay off more than 2,000 workers at a plant outside Detroit to wind down its production of the classic Ram 1500 truck. The plant..... will continue to be equipped for Jeep Wagoneer production on a one-shift production pattern. Laid off union workers will receive supplemental unemployment benefits and transition assistance for the next year."
..........
"The ......plant is used for manufacturing the Ram 1500 Tradesman truck and it would be converted to a production facility for an all-electric Ram vehicle, potentially threatening union jobs."

In other words, it already IS a plant making regular ICE vehicles. Presumably, Stellantis (good market capitalists that they are) thinks that they can make a better profit on EVs and that the demand for them will only increase, so they are converting the plant to produce EVs.

From my reading of the article, Stellantis agreed to re-open a closed plant in Illinois and modify another plant in Indiana to support production of EVs in return for getting the government grants. They are presumably honoring those agreements with the government.

The plant that is the subject of the OP is located in Michigan, and does not appear to be part of the deal that Stellantis reached with the government. So they are converting the Michigan plant to produce EVs on their own nickel. And note that they are not closing the plant; they are converting it. Once they made the corporate decision to switch production at that plant to EVs, they obviously can't afford to have that 2,000 people who were trained to produce ICE vehicles just stay on the payroll doing nothing. The article says that the laid off union workers will receive supplemental unemployment benefits and transition assistance for the next year. Presumably, the laid off workers can get re-trained to work on an EV assembly line if they want to, or transition to some other job entirely. I guess that's one of the benefits of having a union job. Once the conversion of the plant is completed, Stellantis will have to hire a work crew to run it, and that crew could be as big as or bigger than the one they are laying off and will probably actually include some of the people that are currently getting laid off.

In the mean time, there will be an influx of construction workers into the local economy needed to re-tool the existing plant, and the work crew to do that could also easily be as big as or bigger than the assembly line crew being displaced.

I love my Kia Niro hybrid.

Bought my first one the year it came out… 2017 I think.

Drove it 88,000 miles. Replaced cruise control switch, changed oil.

I now have a Niro plug in hybrid as my second. Save a ton of gas and my electric bill barely went up, yet I can drive to Florida get 55mpg with no need to recharge.

I built off grid house, had off grid boat. I love the tech.

I detest them trying to force it and destroying our energy independence.

They should let market evolve as it will.

a reply to: Boomer1947

I know a total of one person who owns an electric car, and zero who want one.... not even an AMG

Don't Democrats usually throw more money at failing business deals? They usually seem to think that if you throw more money at a problem, the problem will go away .

Who are we kidding... Madow and peers talk about the evil dictator, racist Trump, it's the end of our democracy!!!! 24/7...that is all they know, all they care about, and to hell with their lives in any sense of the word.

originally posted by: Boomer1947

originally posted by: Shoshanna
a reply to: pianopraze

Here's an idea. This may be too far out of the box for "corporate" but why not keep the jobs and turn the plant into a regular car plant instead of electric cars. Who wants an electric car? Now that I read about UPS flight 6 I'm too paranoid of the battery blowing up or catching fire I dont want that thing plugged into my house.

First, in response to your question about "who wants an electric car?", here's a typical market forecast

rmi.org...

If you didn't add editorial lies people may be more inclined to read that wall of text.

Typical market forecast of? Climate lobbying groups encouraging the government to force feed us electric vehicles that there's not enough infrastructure for... powered by green energy that can't keep the grid up?

Those "typical" market forecasts?

All that subsequent effort to explain away the shell game of green profiteering, ruined by dishonesty in the first sentence.

a reply to: Boomer1947
Uh, me thinks that chart is a lot optimistic.

www.edmunds.com...

If we're talking about new vehicle sales, the percentage of electric cars in the U.S. was 6.8% in May 2024, according to Edmunds sales data.

www.cnbc.com...

DETROIT – Ford Motor
is delaying production of a next-generation all-electric pickup truck at a new plant in Tennessee and canceling plans for a three-row electric SUV, the company said Wednesday.

Instead, Ford said it will prioritize the development of hybrid models, as well as electric commercial vehicles such as a new electric commercial van in 2026, followed by two EV pickup trucks in 2027.

I'm not opposed to EV production and sales. I just don't like the Lithium Battery concept. When solid state batteries are offered, I'll consider looking at the EV's.

www.engineering.com...

hile numerous companies are actively involved in the development of solid-state batteries, Japanese enterprises have emerged as leaders in this field. In October 2023, Toyota and Idemitsu Kosan announced a partnership to develop solid-state batteries for EVs. The companies aim to establish a robust supply chain and mass produce commercial solid-state EV batteries as early as 2027.Honda is also seeking to transition from liquid to solid electrolytes, with the company recently suggesting that solid-state batteries may be a way to make EVs more affordable. To facilitate large-scale production of solid-state batteries, Honda is working on defining fabrication techniques and selecting optimal materials.