2016 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Source: Jeep
DETROIT– Stellantis stated Friday that it prepares to forever idle a Jeep plant in Illinois, beginning early next year, to cut expenses as it buys electrical lorries.
The transatlantic car manufacturer, previously referred to as Fiat Chrysler, stated the plant will stop production sinceFeb 28. The more than 1,200 employees at the center, which produces Jeep Cherokee SUVs, will be put on indefinite layoffs, the business stated.
“Our industry has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market,” Stellantis stated in an emailed declaration.
The business explained the idling as a “difficult but necessary action.” It stated it is “working to identify other opportunities to repurpose the Belvidere facility and has no additional details to share at this time.”
United Auto Workers President Ray Curry explained the idling of the plant as “grossly misguided” and “unacceptable,” specifically throughout this time of year.
“Announcing the closure just a few weeks from the holidays is also a cruel disregard for the contributions of our members from UAW Locals 1268 and 1761. We will fight back against this announcement,” he stated in a declaration.
The Illinois plant has actually just been operating on among 3 assembly shifts. It has actually sporadically been idled throughout the coronavirus pandemic and continuous semiconductor chip scarcity.
Cherokee sales were down by about 61% through the 3rd quarter of this year, more than any other lorry in Jeep’s lineup.
A Stellantis spokesperson, when asked whether recessionary worries or cumulative bargaining next year with the United Auto Workers union played into the business’s choice, repeated the thinking detailed in the declaration.
In late-2018, ahead of the 2019 UAW settlements with the Detroit car manufacturers, General Motors revealed strategies to possibly close numerous centers. Only among the significant assembly plants– Lordstown Assembly in Ohio– for the car manufacturer in fact wound up closing following the settlements.
