Car companies routinely make cars in countries where labor is cheap to save money. One of the effects is, for example, the lower selling price of the car, as the Alfa Romeo Milano/Junior case showed. A Bloomberg report now states that the Stellantis concern also wants to develop cars in countries with cheaper labor.
It hires engineers and developers in countries such as Brazil, India and Morocco, where the annual labor costs for one highly qualified worker will be approximately 1.23 million crowns. In the United States or Western Europe, a worker in the same position would cost the company 3.5-4.7 million crowns per year.
The automaker does not deny it. “There’s always potential when it comes to improving cost discipline,” Stellantis chief financial officer Natalie Knight told the agency. “We will continue to optimize labor costs. It’s something that’s important for both highly skilled workers and, to a lesser extent, blue-collar jobs,” she added.
Stellantis cut 400 jobs in the United States in March. On the contrary, he plans to recruit another 500 in Brazil, where he already has four thousand. All this in an effort to make their cars cheaper to fight more effectively with Chinese brands that are spreading around the world.
The Stellantis Group was created in early 2021 by the merger of the Italian-American car company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French competitor PSA. The merger brought together the brands of the French group Peugeot, Citroën, Opel and DS with the brands Fiat, Lancia, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ram.
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Tags: cheap production cheap development Stellantis hires engineers Brazil India
