The automaker responsible for Jeep, Ram and a host of other brands already pulled out of CES, but now it’s pulling out of two other major events.
Stellantis announced Friday it will cancel its plans to exhibit its vehicles at the rapidly approaching SEMA show in Las Vegas as well as the LA Auto Show in November. According to the manufacturer’s brief statement, the decision (much like its earlier plan to pull out of CES) comes as a result of the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.
Their statement in full says: “As the costs of the ongoing UAW strike continue to mount, Stellantis has decided to cancel its planned display and all other presentations at SEMA (Las Vegas Oct. 31- Nov. 3, 2023) and the LA Auto Show (Nov. 16-26, 2023), as part of its contingency plan.”
While we recently covered vehicles the automaker teased for SEMA, it appears the decision to draw down its debut plans came in recent days. On Tuesday, the automaker issued a statement cancelling its plans for this upcoming January’s CES show as it takes “comprehensive countermeasures to mitigate financial impacts and preserve capital,” in wake of the UAW’s labor actions.
Fiat was set to debut the new, all-electric 500e in Los Angeles, and it’s unclear for the moment whether we’ll see that debut as a standalone event either before or shortly after the auto show.
The union’s strike began on September 14 and currently has no distinctive end in sight, though representatives on both sides of negotiations have hinted at some recent progress. General Motors, for its part, offered a 23% wage increase over the next four years (per Automotive News) and add its EV plants to what’s called the “national agreement”, effectively unionizing those plants once they’re operational.
