Gov. Gretchen Whitmer contends efforts to keep Stellantis from moving its headquarters out of the Great Lakes State is a “top priority,” though her social media antics raise questions about whether she’s serious.
“We have an open dialogue going on,” Whitmer told Crain’s Detroit Business at the Battery Show at Hunting Place in Detroit this week. “We want to help Stellantis see the wisdom and the opportunities for changing up their headquarters but making sure it stays here in Michigan. That dialogue is robust, continuous, and we’re not going to take our eye off the ball. We want Stellantis to continue to call Michigan home.”
Whitmer is in talks with Carlos Tavares, CEO of the company that produces Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge, over the possibility of relocating Stellantis’ American headquarters in Auburn Hills.
Whitmer told Crain’s the two have spoken “frequently” and stressed that retaining the company that has called Michigan home for more than a century is a “top priority.”
“The future footprint doesn’t necessarily look like the past, but we want to make sure that they are grounded here in Michigan, and that’s a top priority for me and my administration,” she said, adding that she’s “optimistic” about the outcome.
“We’ve had a lot of very productive conversations,” she said. “Obviously, Detroit is our biggest city. What happens in Detroit matters to the whole state of Michigan.
“There’s a lot of conversation,” Whitmer said. “We’re one of the parties to that conversation, but no decision has been made from our perspective in terms of … what the state’s role may or may not be.”
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She didn’t disclose how much tax money, if any, she is dangling in front of the company as an incentive to remain in the state.
Those conversations follow struggles at Stellantis over the last year, with a UAW strike last September, delays in EV product launches, sputtering sales and significant layoffs this month. The company formed from a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A. in 2020 and its global headquarters is now located in the Netherlands.
Detroit’s Big Three – Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford – are also in transition to produce more electric vehicles, fueled in part by billions in taxpayer-funded grants from Michigan and the federal government.
Amid the shift, Ford this week began moving employees into the recently renovated Michigan Central Station, while GM is moving its longtime headquarters in the Renaissance Center to a $1.4 billion Hudson’s Detroit development downtown, Crain’s reports.
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The potential loss of Stellantis would be a huge blow to the economy in Michigan, where the number of Fortune 500 companies have dwindled from 30 to 16 since Whitmer took office.
The reasons why are less clear, though the governor’s social media activity provides some insight into how she’s spending her time.
In addition to relentless campaigning on behalf of Democrats, and a busy schedule promoting her new book True Gretch, the governor has devoted substantial time to creating online content aimed at Gen Z voters.
This week, Whitmer was featured in a Instagram Reel from left-wing influencer Liz Plank that featured the state’s 49th governor feeding the kneeling woman a Dorito in what Catholic Vote described as “the latest example of the gross anti-Catholic bigotry festering inside the Democratic Party.”
Gretchen Whitmer feeds Doritos to a woman on her knees: pic.twitter.com/mNPz924Igv
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) October 10, 2024
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The clip stemmed from an interview with Plank that included the two cracking jokes about abortion, the “manosphere,” and former President Donald Trump.
“You have two daughters, when they come back home and they leave their Stanley cups lying around, do you ever think about getting a post birth abortion?” Plank asked the governor.
Whitmer laughed hysterically.
Late last month, Whitmer released an X video targeting Gen Z voters that featured the 53-year-old dropping a greatest hits of teen slang, including “cooking with gas,” “rizzing them up,” “not chill,” “no cap,” “swifty af,” and “leaving the chat.”
Live, laugh, elect @KamalaHarris. pic.twitter.com/uuf0tIp3XQ
— Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) September 23, 2024
Before that, it was #HotInfrastructureSummer.
“#HotInfrastructureSummer is here, and everyone knows that strong, reliable infrastructure is real hot girl sh–,” Whitmer posted to X, along with a fire emoji and a video reiterating her unfulfilled campaign promise to “fix the damn roads.”
Those posts, however, don’t quite compare to Whitmer’s award-winning “Governor Barbie” campaign last year that featured a “Lil’ Gretch” lookalike cruising the state in a vintage pink Corvette to tout the governor’s polices on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.
“Lil’ Gretch was a way for us to communicate with people the good important work we’re doing in government, but also to make it current and fun,” Whitmer said during a red carpet interview at the 28th Annual Webby Awards in New York City in May. “So, she’s been great.”