DETROIT (AP) — About 1,100 workers at the Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, are facing layoffs early next year as the company takes further steps to cut high inventory at dealerships.
Stellantis said Thursday that the Toledo South plant, which makes the Jeep Gladiator midsize pickup truck, will go from two daily shifts to one as early as Jan. 5.
Sales of the Gladiator, the pickup truck version of the Jeep Wrangler SUV, are down nearly 21% so far this year to 36,519, according to Motorintelligence.com.
“These are difficult actions to take, but they are necessary to enable the company to regain its competitive edge and eventually return production to prior levels,” Stellantis said.
A message was left Thursday seeking comment from the United Auto Workers union, which represents employees at the Toledo plant.
Under the union contract with Stellantis, laid-off workers will get supplemental pay for one year that, when combined with state unemployment benefits, will equal 74% of regular pay. They’ll also get health insurance coverage for two years, Stellantis said.
The move is the latest action by the company as it struggles with high inventory on dealer lots in the U.S. Stellantis' overall sales have been down most of the year in the U.S., and discounts to counter high sticker prices that came after a poor second quarter didn’t work.
In August, the company warned that it could lay off as many as 2,450 of the 3,700 union workers at the pickup truck plant in Warren, Michigan, north of Detroit. It said at the time the number of job cuts will be lower because of early retirement offers.
In the U.S., Stellantis’ dealer inventory ballooned to just over 430,000 vehicles in June. Third-quarter sales fell 20%, and they’re down over 17% for the first nine months. The rest of the auto industry saw sales increase 1% from January through September.
CEO Carlos Tavares said in October that inventory dropped by 52,000 in recent months, and the company is trying to get below 350,000 by Christmas for a “fresh start” going into the new year.
Last month the world's fourth-largest automaker, which was created by the 2021 merger of PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, reported a 27% drop in net revenues for the third quarter.
Tavares has been under fire from U.S. dealers and the United Auto Workers union this year, caught off guard by too many high-priced vehicles on dealer lots. Tavares has been trying to cut costs by delaying factory openings, laying off union workers and offering buyouts to salaried employees.
The union is threatening to strike against the company over delays in reopening an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which Stellantis blames on a slowing market.
FILE - The plant is silhouetted by the early morning light at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex on Oct. 26, 2023, in Toledo, Ohio. (Kurt Steiss/The Blade via AP, File)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, destroying hundreds of homes, knocking out the country’s power grid and damaging other infrastructure.
No fatalities were immediately reported in Cuba, and Hurricane Rafael had weakened to a Category 2 storm as it swirled across the gulf toward Mexico where heavy rains were expected in the coming days.
Rafael crossed a western portion of Cuba on Wednesday evening about 75 kilometers (45 miles) west of Havana, where José Ignacio Dimas returned home from his night shift as a security guard to find his apartment building in the historic center of the city had collapsed.
“The entire front wall of the building fell,” José Ignacio Dimas said in a tight voice as he scanned the damage early Thursday. Like many buildings in the capital, it was aging and lacked maintenance.
More than 461 homes collapsed because of the hurricane, Cuban authorities said. More than 283,000 people from across the country had been evacuated from their homes, 98,300 of which were in Havana, according to authorities.
Streets across the western swath of the country were riddled with utility poles, wires and trees.
In Havana, residents picked up what debris they could, but huge trees and fallen telephone lines lined the ground, blocking traffic. Concerned about food going bad due to blackouts, a group of residents opened an informal soup kitchen.
"If we don’t work together as neighbors, nobody does it,” said Ariel Calvo, who was helping to shovel debris Thursday morning.
Lázaro Guerra, electricity director for the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said power had been partially restored in the island’s western region and that generation units were powering back up. But he warned that restoring power would be slow-going as crews took safety precautions.
On Thursday morning, the hurricane was located about 260 miles (420 kilometers) west-northwest of Havana. It had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
Earlier in the week, Rafael brushed past Jamaica and battered the Cayman Islands, downing trees and power lines and unleashing heavy flooding in some areas.
Authorities in Jamaica are searching for a couple last seen inside a car that was swept away by floodwaters, police told Radio Jamaica News.
Thousands of customers in Jamaica and Little Cayman remained without power as crews worked to restore electricity after the storm.
Rafael was expected to keep weakening as it spins over open waters and heads toward northern Mexico, although the hurricane center warned there was “above average uncertainty” in the storm's future track.
Meanwhile, many Cubans were left picking up the pieces from Wednesday night, after a rocky few weeks in the Caribbean nation. In October, the island was hit by a one-two punch. First, it was hit by island-wide blackouts stretching on for days, a product of the island’s energy crisis. Shortly after, it was slapped by powerful hurricane that struck the eastern part of the island and killed at least six people.
The disasters have stoked discontent already simmering in Cuba amid an ongoing economic crisis, which has pushed many to migrate from Cuba.
Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero. Thousands of people in the west of the island had been evacuated as a preventative measure.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast called for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
Children wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Residents cycle past homes damaged when Hurricane Rafael passed through Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Debris from a building damaged by the passage of Hurricane Rafael covers the street in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
Residents charge their devices after Hurricane Rafael caused partial outages throughout Havana, Cuba Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
A man pushes his pig back home after taking it to higher ground after Hurricane Rafael passed through Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A fallen palm tree is held by the power lines it brought down after Hurricane Rafael passed through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)
Residents wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A youth plays in a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Madeleine Mur carries her dog through a flooded street after Hurricane Rafael passed through Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Residents ride through a flooded street on a horse-drawn cart after Hurricane Rafael passed through Batano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Children wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man makes his way through trees brought down by Hurricane Rafael along the road leading to San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People drive along a road littered with fallen power lines after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Residents wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Cuba, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Waves break on the beach during the passing of Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man walks through the wind and rain brought by Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man walks through the wind and rain brought by Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People at a bus stop shield themselves with cardboard amid wind and rain during the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man walks through the wind and rain brought by Hurricane Rafael in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A Cuban flag shredded by the winds of Hurricane Rafael flies above the statue of General Calixto Garcia in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
