DETROIT – Stellantis is offering buyouts to 33,500 hourly and salaried employees in the United States as it seeks to cut costs, citing a “competitive” market and rapid shift to electric vehicles.

The carmaker, which owns the Chrysler, Jeep and Ram brands, is offering the buyouts to 31,000 US hourly workers and 2,500 salaried employees, a spokesman confirmed. 

Stellantis chief executive officer Carlos Tavares warned in February of more job cuts as the cost of electrification eats into the company’s profit margins. That same month, the carmaker indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of electric vehicle production.

The company was formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s PSA Group.

The cuts come as the company prepares to negotiate a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union ahead of a Sept 14 deadline.

“Stellantis’ push to cut thousands of jobs while raking in billions in profits is disgusting,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement. “Even now, politicians and taxpayers are bankrolling the electric vehicle transition, and this is the thanks the working class gets. Shame on Stellantis.”

Earlier in April, General Motors said that about 5,000 salaried workers accepted buyouts to leave the carmaker after it cut a few hundred jobs in February.

Ford Motor recently announced significant job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe, and said in August that it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS