Stellantis Will Begin Forcing Buyouts Despite $6.1 Billion in First-Half Profits

Stellantis was not happy about its less-than-stellar earnings report, which it delivered to shareholders last week. Their response this week: despite realizing more than $6 billion in first-half profits and year-end projections of double-digit margins, the company announced that it would soon begin announcing buyouts for its white-collar workers in the United States. This year, the company reported first-half revenue of $92.2 billion and earnings of $6.1 billion, down 48% in net profit from its first-half earnings in 2023. “The company’s performance in the first half of 2024 fell short of our expectations, reflecting both a challenging industry context as well as our own operational issues,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. The automaker – owner of the popular Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, and Fiat brands – sent an email to employees Tuesday, July 30, explaining what they called the “2024 Voluntary Separation Program” is a preemptive measure to the possibility of eliminating jobs. The email suggested that if the program doesn’t have a significant number of people who are willing to voluntarily separate, layoffs or job elimination could be the next step, despite not specifying an exact number of buyout participants they need to take the offer. “We wanted to...