Stellantis announces production pause amid auto sector shake-up

Although Mexico avoided further car tariffs erstwhile U.S. President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs program connected Wednesday, the car shaper Stellantis has present announced a partial suspension of its Mexico operations.

Stellantis — 1 of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers — connected Thursday announced it was pausing accumulation astatine 2 of its plants successful Mexico and 1 of its factories successful Canada successful effect to antecedently announced tariffs. Stellantis has 7 manufacturing operations successful Mexico.

In a missive sent to employees, Stellantis said it is “continuing to measure the medium- and semipermanent effects of these tariffs connected our operations, but besides person decided to instrumentality immoderate contiguous actions.”

While imports from Mexico and Canada that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada commercialized statement (USMCA) are mostly exempt from tariffs nether Trump’s astir caller order, car exports arsenic good arsenic alloy and aluminum look import duties nether abstracted tariff policies.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum connected Friday said her medication continues moving with the U.S. authorities to code the duties connected cars, alloy and aluminum, portion besides talking with automakers astir however to maximize the fig of USMCA-compliant products.

She besides said the intermission successful operations announced by Stellantis is conscionable temporary, and suggested that the vehicles the institution makes successful Toluca are simply not selling successful Mexico.

A Ram 2500 moves on the accumulation enactment astatine Stellantis’ motortruck mill successful Saltillo, Coahuila. (Stellantis)

Stellantis ranked 3rd successful full conveyance accumulation successful Mexico successful 2024, aft General Motors and Nissan. However, it was seventh successful light-vehicle income successful the home marketplace past year.

“[Stellantis has] a tiny marketplace for their cars autarkic of the tariffs,” she said Friday. “So, they are reviewing whether oregon not to proceed producing … electrical vehicles.

Stellantis started accumulation of electrical vehicles astatine its Toluca mill successful August 2024, aft spending US $1.6 cardinal to accommodate the works for EV production. The institution besides produces its Jeep Compass and Jeep Wagoneer S successful Toluca, 65 kilometers westbound of Mexico City.

“The institution has assured [Economy] Minister [Marcelo] Ebrard that they person nary plans to destruct jobs,” Sheinbaum said “Instead, this is simply a impermanent stoppage portion they measure the marketplace conditions.”

Reuters reported that the enactment stoppage would proceed for the full period of April. Stellantis said that portion accumulation would so beryllium paused, each employees would enactment connected to transportation retired attraction tasks and person training.

On the different hand, Sheinbaum said, Swedish automaker Volvo announced Thursday that it is expanding accumulation of 1 of the vehicles it produces astatine its works successful the authorities of Nuevo León.

Volvo has announced plans to summation accumulation successful Nuevo León. (Adam Cai/Unsplash)

Sheinbaum besides said that Nissan — the top-selling marque successful Mexico — appears to beryllium ratcheting up accumulation of 1 of its models. “So far, it seems that the interaction is not arsenic atrocious arsenic it mightiness person been,” she said, “and we are expecting conditions to improve.”

In December, Stellantis announced plans to summation its investments successful Mexico successful 2025 successful anticipation of double-digit maturation successful the Mexican market. The institution adjacent suggested it could motorboat up to 15 caller conveyance models this year.

Stellantis counts lone 2 models among the 10 astir exported vehicles produced successful Mexico — the RAM 2500 pickup motortruck (built successful Ramos Arzipe, Coahuila) and the Jeep Compass (assembled successful Toluca).

As for the home market, the RAM 2500 is rather fashionable here. Of the 6,915 Stellantis vehicles sold successful Mexico successful March, 3,118 were RAM 2500s.

In different tariff-related car quality … 

German carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW are seeking structure from the Trump tariffs via the USMCA, according to President Sheinbaum. The president said Thursday that institution executives person been successful interaction with Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, adding that the carmakers would person to summation the North American contented successful their vehicles to gain a measurement of extortion from the tariffs.

Japanese automaker Nissan announced connected Thursday that it would halt accumulation of 2 “luxury” models it makes successful Mexico for the U.S. market. The 2 vehicles — the Infiniti QX50 and the QX55 — are assembled successful the Cooperation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes (COMPAS) which is simply a associated task manufacturing works betwixt the Mercedes-Benz Group and Nissan, located successful the metropolis of Aguascalientes.

With reports from El Financiero, Reuters and Infobae