Photo: Stellantis
Stellantis will idle its Belvidere, Illinois assembly plant in February 2023. It’s not a temporary measure, though, but an indefinite measure caused by increasing costs related to the industry's push for electrification.
Roughly 1,350 workers are to be laid off, reports Reuters. Once again, we’re dealing with indefinite layoffs rather than temporary layoffs. Even though Stellantis doesn’t have any short-term vision about its Belvidere assembly, which currently produces the Jeep Cherokee, the automaker is certainly working to identify a cost-effective repurposing opportunity.
Boasting nearly 5 million square feet of floor space, the Belvidere facility started production of various Plymouth and Dodge cars in the 1960s. Come 1977, what used to be the Chrysler Corporation converted this factory to front-wheel-drive products. The Dodge Omni and badge-engineered Plymouth Horizon were assembled at Belvidere until 1987.
That year, the plant underwent a changeover to produce the Chrysler New Yorker and Dodge Dynasty front-wheel-driven sedans. The Imperial and New Yorker Salon followed suit. Not long after, the factory was tasked with making the Dodge and Plymouth Neon. The Dodge Caliber launched in 2005, then the Jeep Compass and technically similar Patriot in 2006.
No fewer than $700 million were invested in the early part of the 2010s to gear up for the Dodge Dart, a commercial failure that would be produced there from April 2012 through October 2016. Another $350 million later, Belvidere snatched up the Cherokee from the Toledo production facility.
The biggest crack yet in Belvidere’s existence came in July 2021, when the assembly plant switched to a single shift. At the moment of reporting, Belvidere flaunts 50 unique die sets, an automatic blanking line, a tandem press line, and three automatic presses, among other production goodies.
As for the KL-generation Cherokee, the compact-sized utility vehicle is really showing its age despite a well-deserved facelift for 2019 and the introduction of the X trim level for 2022. From a high point of 239,437 sales during calendar year 2018 in the United States of America, the KL-generation Cherokee fell to a rather disappointing 89,126 units last year.
Boasting nearly 5 million square feet of floor space, the Belvidere facility started production of various Plymouth and Dodge cars in the 1960s. Come 1977, what used to be the Chrysler Corporation converted this factory to front-wheel-drive products. The Dodge Omni and badge-engineered Plymouth Horizon were assembled at Belvidere until 1987.
That year, the plant underwent a changeover to produce the Chrysler New Yorker and Dodge Dynasty front-wheel-driven sedans. The Imperial and New Yorker Salon followed suit. Not long after, the factory was tasked with making the Dodge and Plymouth Neon. The Dodge Caliber launched in 2005, then the Jeep Compass and technically similar Patriot in 2006.
No fewer than $700 million were invested in the early part of the 2010s to gear up for the Dodge Dart, a commercial failure that would be produced there from April 2012 through October 2016. Another $350 million later, Belvidere snatched up the Cherokee from the Toledo production facility.
The biggest crack yet in Belvidere’s existence came in July 2021, when the assembly plant switched to a single shift. At the moment of reporting, Belvidere flaunts 50 unique die sets, an automatic blanking line, a tandem press line, and three automatic presses, among other production goodies.
As for the KL-generation Cherokee, the compact-sized utility vehicle is really showing its age despite a well-deserved facelift for 2019 and the introduction of the X trim level for 2022. From a high point of 239,437 sales during calendar year 2018 in the United States of America, the KL-generation Cherokee fell to a rather disappointing 89,126 units last year.
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