(This story was updated to change or add a photo or video.)
Stellantis pushed back Monday on UAW President Shawn Fain’s contention that the automaker isn’t honoring its commitments in the contract it agreed to with the union last year.
But the company would not say whether production of the Dodge Durango will stay in Detroit or move, as the union contends is the plan, to Windsor, Ontario.
The company, in a news release Monday, said North America Chief Operating Officer Carlos Zarlenga sent Fain an email that “set the record straight” on Fain’s allegations from a Facebook Live address last week where Fain laid out a process for strike votes related to product commitments. The company said it had conducted a “detailed and thorough analysis” and that it took exception to Fain’s comments about whether it is honoring its commitments.
The company declined to provide the email to the Free Press, which has also requested comment from the UAW.
The Stellantis statement cited “indisputable volatility in the market” and said CEO Carlos Tavares and his North American team remain available to “meet and discuss these issues in the best interests of Stellantis’ employees and to help the UAW understand how these actions are appropriate under” the contract.
Fain, notably, has said the union had been asking for weeks to meet with Tavares. The union has threatened a national strike related to product commitments, which the company contends is not allowed in this case. The union has also filed grievances with the company and charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
The release represents the latest salvo in a messaging battle between the automaker that owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands and the UAW, at a time when Stellantis has been struggling with sales in the United States, diminished profits and criticism from the union and even its dealers .
On Monday, Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight, speaking at a Bank of America virtual conference, said that the company would be cutting production in the third quarter and that it intends to slice vehicle inventories by 100,000 by the beginning of 2025 as it seeks to rebound from a tough 2024.
In its news release, Stellantis highlighted its investment announcements and the challenges of the current market. Stellantis pressed the case that “the investments and timelines are not absolute guarantees, as Fain has wrongly and repeatedly characterized, but contingent upon numerous factors, including market conditions.”
The company, which plans to launch numerous electric vehicles this year, including the Ram 1500 REV pickup and Dodge Charger Daytona, pointed to the slower ramp-up in electric vehicle sales as one issue affecting the entire industry, noting “the evidence of a dramatic transformation of the industry and its effects on the market is clear.”
Fain, however, has pointed to better sales results at Ford and General Motors in recent periods to assert that Stellantis’ issues are not because of market conditions, instead pointing to Tavares as the problem.
Regarding product and investment, Fain said Stellantis has managed to fulfill only about 2% of its commitments in the contract nationwide so far, but in its release, Stellantis said that, counting $6.2 billion in investments announced at Kokomo, Indiana, in 2022 and 2023, the automaker has announced “about 30% of the nearly $19 billion that is included in the 2023 agreement, not just 2% as Fain claims.”
Earlier this month, the union, highlighting that the company still plans to cut a shift at Warren Truck this year , held a rally after the automaker announced $406 million in investments at Warren Truck, Sterling Heights Assembly and Dundee Engine.
The fate of the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois is another issue of contention with the union. Plans to restart the plant — considered a big win for the union in bargaining — to produce a midsize pickup are on hold. The company release said that the "decision to delay the timeline for the Belvidere plant allocations is consistent with the current challenging automotive landscape and the plain language of Letter 311" in the contract.
More: Stellantis CFO says automaker will cut 100K vehicles from inventory by 2025
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Regarding the Dodge Durango, Fain had blasted the company over the future location of production. Fain said the company had confirmed a planned move from the Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson to the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario. The company denied making any such confirmation, and its release on Monday said it “has not made an announcement regarding the production allocation of the next generation Dodge Durango.”
The Free Press followed up to ask whether production would stay in Detroit or move to Windsor. Spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said, “We have nothing more to say about Durango.”
Fain has said that moving the Durango to Windsor would kill "thousands of jobs in America," and he called it "a flagrant violation of our contract.”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com . Become a subscriber . Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stellantis: We are honoring our commitments despite what Shawn Fain says
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