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Investment in EVs: GM is Spending US$ 7 Billion, Honda is Helping Build a US$ 4.4 Billion Factory, and Giant Ford is Investing Over US$ 11.4 Billion!
In contrast to its competitors Ford, GM, and Honda, Stellantis, the owner of 16 car brands including Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge, has confirmed that it is closing an assembly plant in Belvidere, which produces the Jeep Cherokee SUV. The facility employs about 1,350 workers who will be laid off when the plant closes by the end of February.
In a statement the automaker provided to Reuters, Stellantis blamed the shutdown of the plant on the high cost of electrifying its cars! “Our industry has been negatively affected by a multitude of factors, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the rising cost associated with the electrification of the automotive market,” the company stated, adding that it is exploring other uses for the plant and is trying to find jobs for the workers it is laying off.
“The company is also working to identify other opportunities to repurpose the Belvidere facility and has no additional details to share at this time,” said Stellantis.
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Stellantis is Spending Billions on Electric Vehicles
But is it really? It would be comical if it weren’t tragic! One of the largest automakers in the world is saying it needs to close a factory indefinitely because of how much electrifying costs? This claim is very bold, especially coming from a company that is racing against the three big American automakers to transition their gasoline lines to batteries.
Things don’t add up; recently Stellantis said it will invest more than €30 billion (US$ 31.6 billion) by 2025 in electrifying its vehicle lineup. It also stated that it expects EVs to make up 100% of its sales in Europe and 50% in the United States by 2030.
Another angle is the fact that Stellantis has promised some electrified Jeeps, and it’s hard to understand why this factory couldn’t play a role in manufacturing these vehicles, at least one of which will be launched next year.
That doesn’t mean Stellantis isn’t spending heavily on EVs – it promised to share a bill of up to US$ 3 billion with Samsung for a battery factory in Indiana and is investing US$ 4.1 billion in a similar facility in Canada, this time with LG.
Other multinational automotive industry players like GM are spending US$ 7 billion on one of their three ongoing electric vehicle battery plants, Honda is helping build a US$ 4.4 billion factory in Ohio (and spending an additional US$ 700 million to retool existing facilities), and the giant Ford announced it is building three EV-related sites at a cost of over US$ 11.4 billion.
It is too early to say whether EVs will become a common scapegoat if the automotive industry continues laying off workers, but right now we have Stellantis blaming the electrification market and putting the livelihood of thousands of people as the cost of the future.
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