Key Points
- Stellantis is planning a new $10 billion investment in its U.S. operations.
- The move represents a significant strategic shift to refocus on the crucial American market.
- The money will be used to reopen plants, hire workers, and launch new models.
- The investment is also a move to gain favor with the Trump administration and avoid tariffs.
Stellantis, the troubled automaker behind Jeep and Ram, is planning to invest about $10 billion in the United States as it refocuses on the market that is crucial to its profits. The new spending is part of an effort by the company’s new CEO to turn around its struggling U.S. operations.
According to people familiar with the plan, the company may announce approximately $5 billion in new funding in the coming weeks, in addition to a similar amount it had already committed earlier this year. The money will reportedly be used to reopen plants, hire workers, and launch new models in states like Illinois and Michigan.
The move marks a major strategy shift for Stellantis. The company’s previous CEO had aggressively relocated production and engineering to lower-cost countries, such as Mexico, and had invested heavily in a weak European market. The new CEO, Antonio Filosa, is now trying to rebalance the company’s investments and stabilize its steep market share losses in the U.S.
The new focus on the U.S. is also a strategic move to curry favor with the Trump administration and soften the blow of potential new tariffs.
Stellantis has been lobbying for a waiver on a possible 25% tariff on the Ram pickups it manufactures in Mexico. This new investment plan could also help appease the United Auto Workers union, which has been in talks with the company about its idled plant in Belvidere, Illinois.
