The 2023 Chrysler Pacifica has earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) for 2023.
The Pacifica was ranked “Good” – the highest-possible rating – in IIHS tests that simulate three of the most common types of real-world crashes:
- Driver-side small overlap frontal impact
- Passenger-side small overlap frontal impact
- And moderate overlap frontal impact
Pacifica’s body structure was engineered with multiple steel grades including advanced high-strength and ultra-high strength in its design part of the safety design process.
“The Chrysler Pacifica is America’s most awarded minivan for seven years running and 2023 Chrysler Pacifica stands alone among minivans with its 97 standard-equipment safety and security features and its renowned versatility,” says Chris Fell, CEO of Stellantis’ Chrysler brand. “The total package delivers the superior level of driving confidence consumers want and deserve.”
Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is among the safety features that come standard on the 2023 Chrysler Pacifica. It’s an essential technology to qualify for an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating.
The IIHS revised its ratings system in 2020 to include a greater emphasis on AEB and headlight function. The 2023 Pacifica features LED headlamps as standard equipment, along with daytime running lamps, fog lamps, and taillamps that benefit from LED technology, which provides a balanced beam of light that also minimizes glare for oncoming traffic.
In other Stellantis news, the company has recalled 165 Stellantis employees who were laid off when the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Ill., a community about 70 miles west of Chicago.
The employees will support operations for Mopar, the company’s parts and service division, at a warehouse in Belvidere.
About 115 employees already are working processing parts for distribution to dealers at the warehouse located near the plant. The rest of the employees are completing training at the Chicago Parts Distribution Center in Naperville, Ill., then will transition to the Belvidere location before the end of the year.
“It has always been our goal to find full-time employment opportunities for the Belvidere workforce,” says Mark Stewart, North America COO for Stellantis. “This is a great first step in our plans to restore operations in this community and provide meaningful, high paying jobs with excellent benefits for those who are still on layoff and, eventually, for many who want to return home.”
During 2023 negotiations, Stellantis and the UAW agreed to launch a new battery plant joint venture, establish a Mopar Mega Hub, and resume production at the plant, all in Belvidere. The company and the union also agreed to eliminate the wage tier between Mopar employees and their assembly plant counterparts.
In November Stellantis launched its “Shares to Win” employee share purchase plan, an incentive program that enables employees to become shareholders in the company on preferential terms.
Initially launched to 85,000 employees in France and Italy between Nov. 13 and Nov. 30, Shares to Win saw a total investment of around €65 million, including €47 million from individual investment and €18 million matched by the company, representing around 4.4 million additional shares held by employees.
“The success of this step of Shares to Win in Italy and France demonstrates our employees’ confidence in the sustainable future of our company supported by the execution of our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which maps out the path to achieving carbon net zero by 2038 and creating value for all our stakeholders,” says Xavier Chéreau, chief human resources and transformation officer for Stellantis.
A total of 22 percent of eligible employees subscribed to Shares to Win this year, with an individual investment of around €2,470.
On Nov. 10, the subscription price for Shares to Win 2023 was set at €14.52 in France and Italy. The reference share price is equal to the average closing price of Stellantis shares on the Milano stock exchange between Oct. 12 and Nov. 8.
The plan calls for a contribution of 100 percent of the employee’s personal contribution, up to € 1,000 gross. This is equivalent to 62 to 68 shares offered by Stellantis for €1,000 invested by the employee, depending on the legislation in place in the country.
This employee share purchase plan should be extended worldwide, starting in the first half of 2024 to 242,000 eligible employees in 18 countries, according to equivalent incentive guiding principles. Then, in 2025 it would be further expanded to all countries where Stellantis operates, as soon as the regulatory and economic context allows.
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