The Stellantis (Chrysler) Kokomo Transmission Plant is shown on Oct. 7, 2021. Tim Bath | Kokomo Tribune
Stellantis is offering eligible employees a voluntary retirement program to assist in the company’s transition to producing more electric vehicles.
Workers who could take the early retirement package include nonunion salaried employees who are 55 years old and have 30 years of experience, and employees 58 and older who have been there at least 10 years.
The company said those workers are “pension eligible,” meaning they already could retire. Details on what the buyout package entails were not released.
Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said she didn’t have the numbers on how many workers in Kokomo and Tipton are eligible for the program. She said employees have until the end of November to take the buyout.
The decision comes as Stellantis says it is “aggressively moving forward on its journey to become the market leader in low emission vehicles.”
“We are off to a strong start with our recent string of battery plant announcements, investments in powertrain operations, onboarding of engineering and software talent as well as the introduction of exciting vehicles, like the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and the soon-to-come Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe,” the company said in a statement.
That includes the company announcing last month it was investing $229 million to retool the Kokomo Casting, Indiana Transmission and Kokomo Transmission plants to begin producing a new 8-speed transmission that can be paired with both hybrid and plug-in engines.
Brad Clark, the company’s head of powertrain operations, said during the announcement ceremony that the new transmission is versatile and can also be paired with traditional internal combustion engines.
The move marks a significant step in the company’s strategy to have 40% of its sales made up of low-emissions vehicles by 2030 in the U.S. That commitment came in July, when Stellantis said it would invest $35 billion into electrification and software through 2025 as part of its long-term electrification strategy.
The company said the early retirement program will assist in its transition to lowemission vehicles and align its business priorities to a “to a new set of critical skills and investment opportunities.”
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