Stellantis, VW close plants, focus on EV’s
Stellantis is to close its Vauxhall van plant in southern England, with more than 1,000 jobs at risk, the company says.
Stellantis joins rival carmakers in cutting staff, closing sites and reducing production in a tough trading environment, Kallanish notes.
The company, which also owns the Peugeot, Citroen, Chrysler and Fiat brands, said on Tuesday it was consolidating its British light commercial vehicle production at its Ellesmere Port site in northern England, where it will invest £50 million ($63m) in a hub for electric vehicles (EVs).
The Milan Stock Exchange-listed company said it planned to move “hundreds of jobs” from Luton, just south of London, to Ellesmere Port and had begun consultations with staff and unions.
The company, created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA in 2021, did not say how many jobs would be affected.
Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan and GM have previously announced job cuts in response to declining demand for electric vehicles, which consumers see as too expensive, and increased competition from China.
VW announced on Wednesday that it will sell its plant in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, bowing to pressure from investors concerned about possible human rights abuses in the region.
The local plant of the German automaker was created jointly with the Chinese state-owned automobile firm SAIC Motor Corp. and will be sold to a division of state-owned company Shanghai Lingang Economic Development.
However, the manufacturer from Germany indicated that it will extend its partnership with SAIC by a decade – until 2040, VW tells Kallanish. “By extending the agreement, the partners are creating early planning security beyond 2030 in a very dynamic development phase of the Chinese automotive market. At the same time, Volkswagen and SAIC are accelerating the transformation of their joint venture company, SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, in the areas of product portfolio, production, and decarbonization. The shared goal of the partners is to achieve a leading market position for SAIC VOLKSWAGEN with the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi brands in the era of intelligent, fully connected electric vehicles,” it noted.
The Urumqi facility, which employs 175 workers, does not manufacture any cars, but performs final quality checks on already assembled vehicles, which are then shipped to car dealers in the region.
The company cited “economic reasons” behind the sale as it intends to gradually reduce production capacity for internal combustion vehicles amid increased demand for electric cars.
Volkswagen is particularly struggling in China, where local car brands such as BYD now dominate. By 2030 SAIC-Volkswagen will launch a total of 18 new models, including eight new electric vehicles.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
Stellantis Q3 vehicle shipments drop 20% on year, hit by US, Europe markets
Automaker Stellantis registered a 20% year on year decrease in consolidated shipments in Q3 to 1.148 million units due to production gaps in several models and headwinds from a challenging European market environment, it said in its Q3 results released Oct. 31.
In North America, shipments fell 36% year on year to 299,000 units due to a combination of strong Q3 2023 production, including 50,000 units of nameplates on hiatus in 2024 pending successor launches, as well as production constraints to lower US dealer inventories by 50,000 units, the company said.
In Europe, shipments decreased 17% year on year to 496,000 units, driven in particular by delayed launches of new B-segment products, including the Citroen C3, C3 Aircross, and others, as well as 5% lower industry volumes in the region.
In Middle East and Africa consolidated shipments dropped 26% year on year to 78,000 units, primarily from lower shipments to Algeria, where a temporary import restriction was in place, and secondarily in Turkey, where there were delays in ramping up a new light commercial vehicle LCV.
In China, India and the Asia Pacific, consolidated shipments fell 30% to 14,000 units, mainly due to decreases for Peugeot, Jeep and Ram vehicles amid increased competition in domestic and import markets.
Meanwhile, shipments in South America rose 14% to 258,000 units on stronger demand in Brazil and Argentina, production recovery after the Rio Grande do Sul flooding and expansion in the product portfolio, it said.
Overall, Stellantis’ Q3 revenues fell 27% due to the low shipments and sales, although the company said its US market share was improving and it was on track to resolve high inventories in North America by the end of 2024.
“While Q3 2024 performance is below our potential, I’m pleased with our progress addressing operational issues, in particular US inventories, which have been reduced meaningfully and are on track for year-end targets, as well as stabilization of US market share,” Stellantis CFO Doug Ostermann said in the results.
“In Europe, stringent quality requirements delayed the start of certain high-volume products, but with progress resolving challenges we will soon benefit from the significantly expanded reach our generational new product wave brings to 2025 and beyond,” he added.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur560/mt ex-works Ruhr Oct. 30, down 18.8% since the start of 2024.
