Chrysler parent Stellantis laying off 400 salaried U.S. workers due to ‘unprecedented uncertainties’

DETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.

Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units “after rigorous organizational reviews.” Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.

The cuts are effective March 31.

“As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,” the company said in an emailed statement.

A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off. A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs occurred during a “mandatory remote work day” for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis’ engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.

The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.

The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis’ “Dare Forward 2030” strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker’s revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.

“While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,” the company said.