The Rivian Problem: Why Are We Still Working Hard at the Jeep Cherokee? An Automotive Company With a Heavy Embedded in the Future
The Jeep Cherokee factory in Illinois is the one that is under scrutiny, as the auto company prepares for union negotiations. The halt at the plant had to do with the transition to electricity, a spokesman for Stellantis told CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. The company claims that the most significant challenge is the increase in the costs related to the automotive market, as it tries to find jobs for the workers it is laying off.
“Why are we doing this? The technology decided is 40% more expensive than the conventional technology and so we need to find a solution. That’s the situation,” he said at a recent media roundtable. “You have 40% more total production costs when we make an EV compared to a conventional vehicle. What do we do with 40%? A large amount of money. You cannot pass it to the consumer.”
In August, Ford announced thousands of jobs would be lost, as well as cutting 3,800 jobs throughout Europe, earlier in the year.
This isn’t the first time Rivian has laid off employees, nor is it the first time that it specifically laid off the same percentage of workers. Last July, the company said it would let go 6 percent of its workforce in an attempt to refocus its business.
Rivian, which sells its vehicles at over $65K, has not commented on its plans to cut prices in response to certain companies. But the company’s main problem isn’t demand but issues around supply, as it continues to ramp up production to get vehicles to customers in a timely fashion.
White-collar job cuts at General GM, as announced in a message to investors: GM is planning to cut off white collar jobs by the next two years
Some white collar jobs are going to be cut by General GM in a bid to remain competitive in the transition to electric vehicles.
In a message to staff Tuesday, the company’s chief people officer stated that they are looking at all the ways of addressing efficiency and performance. “This week we are taking action with a relatively small number of global executives and classified employees following our most recent performance calibration. They will be departing the company starting from today.”
GM made a record profit of $18.6 billion in the last fiscal year. The company announced that it would be cutting overhead by $2 billion over the next two years. But at that time CEO Mary Barra told investors, “I do want to be clear, though, we’re not planning layoffs. attrition will help manage overall head count as we limit our hiring to only the most strategically important roles.
According to the union, production of the Cherokee is going to Mexico, but no plans have been made about where the future production will take place.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/business/gm-job-cuts/index.html
The United Auto Workers’ Union – Negotiating a Deal with Ford and GM via a 6-Wounds Strike at GM
The UAW will negotiate a contract with both Ford and GM in the fall. The union went on a strike at GM for six weeks in order to reach a deal with the company.