Stellantis announces $13 billion US investment plan

DETROIT — Stellantisthe parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and other auto brands, plans to invest $13 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations over the next four years as the company executes a domestic turnaround under CEO Antonio Filosa.

The transatlantic automaker said Tuesday the investments would add more than 5,000 jobs to its domestic workforce and increase domestic production by 50%. Plans include new vehicles arriving at factories in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio through 2029.

U.S.-listed shares of Stellantis rose more than 5% after hours Tuesday. The company’s shares are down 24% this year.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump pushes to create more U.S. manufacturing jobs through aggressive tariffs, particularly for the auto industry. The company said the plans expand on those that Stellantis Chairman John Elkann detailed to Trump in January.

“From day one, my team and I set a clear priority: to grow in the largest market we operate in, which is the United States,” Filosa, who led the company’s North American operations before taking over as CEO on June 23, told CNBC on Tuesday. “We know what we need to do to grow this market.”

The company’s U.S. sales peaked in 2018, when it was known as Fiat Chrysler, with more than 2.2 million vehicles. Last year’s sales fell 42% since then as the company and its former CEO Carlos Tavares, ousted late last year, focused on profits rather than volumes.

Stellantis’ new vehicles in the investments include a mid-size truck for a factory in Toledo, Ohio; two new Jeep vehicles for a closed facility in Belvidere, Illinois; and a next-generation version of the Dodge Durango SUV and “an all-new large range-extended EV SUV with internal combustion engine” at Michigan plants.

Other investments include research and development costs and supplier costs to execute the company’s new product strategy, as well as additional investments in the company’s U.S. transmission center in Kokomo, Indiana.

Filosa said the investment decisions were the result of discussions with the company’s new management team as well as stakeholders such as the company’s franchised dealer network. He downplayed tariffs as the main driver behind these decisions, saying automakers need to make long-term plans.

It’s not immediately clear how many investments and jobs are new or how many were previously announced as part of the company’s 2023 contract with the United Auto Workers union, which called for $18.9 billion in new investments through April 2028.

But there are some differences. For example, a mid-size truck was previously planned for Stellantis’ Belvidere assembly plant in Illinois, thanks to a $1.5 billion investment. That vehicle, or another midsize truck, is now expected to be added to the company’s Toledo plant thanks to a $400 million investment.

The investments cover most of the company’s major U.S. manufacturing plants. Stellantis’ U.S. footprint includes 34 manufacturing facilities, parts distribution centers and research and development sites in 14 states. The operations employ more than 48,000 people, according to the company.