The Opel parent company Stellantis is planning to invest $13 billion (11.2 billion euros) in the USA over the next four years. The record sum is intended to increase business in the US market and production there, as Stellantis announced late on Tuesday evening.
According to this, five new models will be brought onto the market and more than 5,000 jobs will be created at the plants in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The parent company of brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Chrysler and Opel spoke of the largest investment in the company’s 100-year US history.
On the one hand, the multi-brand group is reacting to the long-term weakening of business in the USA. The auto tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump are also likely to play a role. By making imports more expensive, Trump wants to make domestic production more attractive. Manufacturers with locations in the USA save tariffs and therefore have advantages in this important market.
This investment in the USA will “drive our growth, strengthen our production sites and bring more American jobs to the states where we are at home,” said Stellantis boss Antonio Filosa: “Success in America is not just good for Stellantis in the USA – it is good for Stellantis as a whole.”
Stellantis was created from the merger of the French PSA group with the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler group. The US market is home to four of the group’s 14 vehicle brands: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.
It’s been a crisis for a long time
The multi-brand company has been in crisis for a long time because it can no longer get rid of its large SUVs and pickups on the North American continent as usual. That also cost former boss Carlos Tavares his job. For a long time, the business with expensive SUVs and pickups ensured that Stellantis earned the lion’s share of its profits in the USA.
Under former US President Joe Biden, car manufacturers in the US were required by emissions rules to invest in electric car models. Under Trump, however, penalties for violating emissions rules were lifted, allowing automakers to once again produce car models with higher CO₂ emissions in the United States. According to Stellantis, the models planned in the US plants also include combustion engines.
US tariffs cost billions
Stellantis expects high burdens from US customs policy for 2025. The VW rival announced at the end of July that special costs of up to 1.5 billion euros could be incurred for the entire year. In the first six months, Stellantis posted a loss of billions.
Following the customs agreement between the USA and the EU, the new CEO Filosa promised an improvement in day-to-day business for the rest of the year. Recently, the sales figures provided a glimmer of hope. In the third quarter, deliveries increased by 13 percent. Rising sales figures in the USA made a decisive contribution to this.
