Under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares’ leadership, the former Chrysler headquarters complex in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was starting to look like a ghost town, according to insiders. The emphasis was on “global teams,” with as much as possible delegated to inexperienced engineers in “low cost countries.” FCA US (former Chrysler) engineers complained of being told they had to come into the building to work, and then spending the day teleconferencing with people around the globe. Projects were delayed as designs were found to be uncompetitive or impractical.
With the dismissal of Carlos Tavares and the hiring of Antonio Filosa, that seems to have been changing rapidly. At least two former executives have been hired back, along with, reportedly, American engineers. Indeed, the company is even staffing up a new powertrain cost performance program to centralize future-program costing, including gasoline and electric powertrains, suggesting that development is not just continuing, but continuing at the CTC.
Quality. The company is restaffing field services to help get parts and service done quicker and to provide sales support, halving the number of dealerships each rep handles. A new position in engineering directly addresses “open quality issues related to engines,” requiring root cause analysis and continuous improvement, working with teams across the company. There are numerous other quality-related positions, including durability triage engineer at the Proving Grounds, advanced diagnostics leader, warranty spending analyst, and customer experience internships.
Future product. The Stellantis careers web site shows 401 open jobs in the United States, from a Toledo paint shop leader to customer analyst; Warren appears to be staffing up with plant engineers. More to the point, there are currently at least 76 engineering positions open, including systems (e.g. HVAC), “Smart Cockpit,” audio, propulsion controls and electric drives, and so forth—systems that could in theory be developed in Italy or France or Brazil or India, but which are in the United States. Gasoline engines are still in development, hence the need for a regional engine family manager.
Overall, it appears that the former Chrysler, still called FCA US, FCA Canada, and FCA México or, together, Stellantis North America, has a much more promising future than it did last year.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest Mopar site (Allpar) in 1994. After a chemo-induced 2007-2010 break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales (Chrysler history and “permanent” car and truck pages). He most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the marque.
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