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Biden faulted as major automaker lays off hundreds of US workers due to EV transition

March 24, 2024 | | Print Article

A multinational company that owns a large number of automobile brands is reportedly laying off hundreds of employees because of the transition to electric vehicles.

“Stellantis is laying off about 400 employees in the U.S., mostly in its software and engineering divisions, the latest in a string of cutbacks by the automaker as it works to introduce its first electric vehicles in the U.S.,” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Stellantis owns many automobile companies, including Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler.

“After rigorous organizational reviews, Stellantis confirms that we will reduce our engineering/technology and software organizations by about 2% in the U.S.,” the company confirmed in a statement to Fox Business Network.

“These reductions will be effective on March 31, 2024. Stellantis will offer support for those affected including a comprehensive separation package and transition assistance,” the statement continued.

Critics on the right have blamed the layoffs on President Joe Biden and his obsession with gutting the traditional automotive industry in favor of electric vehicles:

They’re not alone in pinning the blame on Biden.

“Biden’s regulations to force EVs on all of us is a costly mistake,” Frank Lasee, the president of Truth In Energy And Climate, told The National Desk in January.

“Most of the metals needed for batteries are made in China. Because they can make them cheaper, with low-cost coal fired electricity and industrial processes, forced labor, that some call slave labor, and little environmental protections,” he added.

Steve Milloy, a Senior Policy Fellow for the Energy And Environment Legal Institute, was even more blunt.

“Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for the car industry, especially its workers,” he said. “Carmakers are losing tens of thousands of dollars on each EV sold. EV production is reducing the number of autoworker jobs.”

“Pointless fuel economy standards are making cars so expensive that drivers are holding on to their cars for twice as long as they used to. None of that is good for jobs or wages. But Biden doesn’t care. His anti-car climate agenda is more important,” he added.

Derek Kreifels, the CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, was also critical.

“Terrible decision-making from Biden has had a direct impact on rising costs and led to dire consequences for working-class families,” he said.

“The fact that he is giving a speech in front of an industry he has more-or-less sought to destroy with anti-energy mandates and his EV obsession only serves to emphasize the point that Biden is clueless and his administration’s policies are completely out of touch with the needs of the American people,” he added.

All this comes amid the Biden administration finalizing new “regulations targeting gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions, considered the tip of the spear in its efforts to electrify the transportation sector,” according to Fox News.

“The regulations, a key part of President Biden’s climate agenda, would ultimately force automakers to more rapidly expand electric options in their fleets beginning in a matter of years,” Fox News notes.

This move has also been met with criticism:

“It certainly won’t do anything to improve human health. It won’t do anything to reduce pollution,” American Energy Institute president and CEO Jason Isaac said.

“We’ve proven in this country that we’re already a world leader in clean air. All it’s going to continue to do is push the costs of electric vehicles on to purchasers of internal combustion engine vehicles,” he added.

Vivek Saxena
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