Stellantis still plans to reopen its shuttered assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, but it has canceled its plans to bring in a new electric vehicle battery facility and parts hub to the state, Matt Frantzen, president of UAW Local 1268, said in an email to Automotive Dive.
The Belvidere factory, slated to open in 2027, will build a new mid-size truck, he said. But it could take about 18 months to get the plant fully operational, Frantzen added.
“We were notified late last year that the Mega Hub and Battery plant weren't going to be put in here,” he said. “The current plan is to refurbish the assembly plant for a mid-size truck.”
The battery plant project was included as part of a new labor agreement reached between the union and Stellantis in October 2023.
Jodi Tinson, a spokesperson for Stellantis, confirmed the company’s plan to restart the Belvidere factory. She had no comment about the battery plant.
“It is still our expectation that the Belvidere plant will launch in 2027,” Tinson said in an email.
Stellantis shut down the Belvidere Assembly in February 2023 as part of a series of cost-cutting moves. Frantzen said the company told the union “we'd have 1,500 jobs,” but noted Local 1268 represented about 1,800 people who could return. However, Frantzen said some former Belvidere workers have already informed him they don’t plan on returning.
Stellantis has not revealed what type of truck Belvidere Assembly will build or whether it will be a traditional gas-powered vehicle, fully electric or hybrid. Tinson said the company intends “for the new mid-size truck to take full advantage of our multi-energy capabilities.”
Stellantis was among the recipients of a $1.7 billion Department of Energy grant designed to support the conversion of both shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing plants to produce and supply electric vehicles. The automaker was awarded $335 million to convert the Belvidere plant for electrification.
