Stellantis offers salaried-worker buyouts in move to electric vehicles

The maker of Jeep SUVs and Ram pickup trucks is offering buyouts to pension-eligible salaried employees in the United States as part of its transition toward an electrified vehicle lineup.

The number of buyouts Stellantis NV is offering and of employees who are eligible wasn't immediately available. The early retirement is available to workers who are at least 55 years old and have been with the company for 30 years or who are at least 58 with 10 years of experience.

Automotive News first reported the buyouts, which come as the transatlantic merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and French automaker Groupe PSA seeks to catch up to the competition in the transition to alternative fuels. Stellantis this summer said it will invest $35.5 billion in plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles by 2025.

"Stellantis is aggressively moving forward on its journey to become the market leader in low emission vehicles," the company said in a statement. "We are off to a strong start with our recent string of battery plant announcements, investments in powertrain operations, onboarding of engineering and software talent as well as the introduction of exciting vehicles, like the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and the soon to come Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe.

"To assist in our transition, and to align our business priorities to a new set of critical skills and investment opportunities, Stellantis North America is offering a voluntary retirement program to eligible members of our team."

The automaker last month announced joint ventures with LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI to build battery plants in North America for future hybrids and EVs. Stellantis expects to have an EV offering for all of its U.S. vehicles by 2029 and that plug-in hybrids and EVs will represent at least 40% of sales by 2030.

The automaker says Jeep will have a fully electric offering in each segment by 2025. Ram will offer a fully electric van in 2023 and a pickup truck the year after. Dodge also has plans for an all-electric muscle car in 2024.

Stellantis last week said its net revenue decreased 14% to $37.2 billion in the third quarter as a global semiconductor shortage hit production and decreased dealer inventories. In the first half of 2021, Stellantis posted $7 billion in profit.

Seeking to ensure Michigan's workers can make the transition to future technologies, a coalition of nonprofits and businesses on Monday called upon the state to use available federal and excess general fund money to invest in the transportation sector's workforce and EV infrastructure to keep the state as a mobility leader.

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble