Stellantis faces renewed uncertainty over Belvidere Assembly reopening timeline

On the Dash:

• A potential delay could push the Belvidere reopening past the current UAW contract, increasing labor uncertainty.
• Stellantis publicly maintains its 2027 production target despite union claims of a mid-2028 shift.
• The Illinois plant remains central to Stellantis’ U.S. manufacturing strategy and labor relations. 

Stellantis may delay the reopening of its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois until mid-2028, according to a local United Auto Workers leader, raising fresh uncertainty for workers and state officials even as the automaker says its plans remain intact.

Matt Frantzen, President of UAW Local 1268, said the company’s original timeline to restart vehicle production in 2027 now appears to be delayed by about 7 months. Frantzen said the revised timing emerged from recent discussions between senior union officials and Stellantis executives, as well as internal company documents.

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However, if production does not begin until mid-2028, it would fall after the April 30, 2028, expiration of Stellantis’ current labor contract with the UAW. Frantzen said that the timing raises concerns that the reopening could become a point of leverage in upcoming contract negotiations.

Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson told the Detroit Free Press that the automaker’s “plan of record has not changed” for Belvidere. The company announced in October that it plans to invest more than $600 million to reopen the 5 million-square-foot facility, hire about 3,300 workers, and produce the Jeep Cherokee and Compass SUVs there, with an initial launch expected in 2027.

A presentation shared with union members late last year outlined production of the Compass beginning by December 2027, followed by the Cherokee in November 2028. The plan called for two work shifts and a potential annual output of more than 100,000 vehicles.

Notably, Belvidere has been closed since early 2023, when thousands of workers were laid off or transferred to other Stellantis plants. Frantzen said many members expected hiring to be underway by now under earlier plans that called for producing a midsize pickup truck at the site, a program that was later moved to the Toledo Assembly Complex.

The reopening of Belvidere, a project that has attracted considerable political interest, is part of Stellantis’s $13 billion commitment to U.S. manufacturing. Both state and federal governments have committed hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for this project, and the facility was a primary topic during the 2023 labor contract negotiations.