Automakers seek to manufacture new cars – Telemundo San Diego (20)

DETROIT – Stellantis plans to build a new midsize pickup truck, as well as battery-powered versions of six Jeep, Ram and Dodge vehicles.

Ford plans to make at least three new electric vehicles that will preserve jobs at several factories.

These and other production plans drawn up by Detroit automakers came to light in the details of the tentative contract agreements that ended the six-week UAW strike.

Under the new agreements, the three companies will significantly increase wages and benefits and improve job security. But the agreements also lay out a plan for what cars and trucks they plan to manufacture in the coming years and where they will be manufactured.

Many plans will continue to manufacture vehicles that automakers already have. But some new vehicles are also scheduled for production in the coming years.

About 146,000 union members will vote on the contracts during the next two weeks. Workers at 10 Ford plants who have already voted have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreements, which will be in place until April 2028.

The UAW’s success in obtaining commitments from companies to build new electric vehicles at several plants represents a special achievement. Expanding electric vehicle production will preserve jobs and could create new ones, which will depend on how quickly the country switches from gasoline engines to battery-powered ones.

All automakers have embraced the transition to electric vehicles as a broad, long-term commitment. The companies have set a goal for electric vehicles to account for about half of their sales in the United States by 2030.

With the same goal, the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 increased federal tax credits for buyers of new and used electric vehicles.