(Bloomberg) —
Stellantis NV is recommitting to US factory investments agreed to more than a year ago as the maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles seeks the good graces of President Donald Trump.
The manufacturer will build a new midsize pickup at its plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which had been shuttered under former Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, according to an internal memo viewed by Bloomberg.
Stellantis reached a deal with the United Auto Workers in late 2023 to build a truck there, but Tavares drew a lawsuit from the union by delaying those plans, which he blamed on a slowdown in electric vehicle demand.
The moves allow the owner of the Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Chrysler brands to settle a festering dispute with the UAW and curry favor with Trump, who’s threatened to impose tariffs as high as 25% on Mexico and Canada to draw manufacturing jobs back to the US.
It’s the latest act by executives to unwind the strategy of Tavares, who left in December after sagging sales and relentless cost cutting soured investors and upset politicians. The board is still searching for his replacement.
“These actions are part of our commitment to invest in our US operations to grow our auto production and manufacturing here,” Antonio Filosa, the head of Stellantis’ North American operations, said in the memo. “We have shared with the UAW all these actions and our desire to work together to strengthen our great company.”
The investment will return about 1,500 UAW employees to the plant northwest of Chicago, Filosa said in the memo. He emailed employees about the plans for Belvidere and factories in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana days after Chairman John Elkann met with Trump.
The moves suggest the company expects more flexibility to sell gas-powered cars under Trump, who’s pledged to ease fuel-economy standards and revoke California’s authority to set its own clean-air rules.
The midsize truck and next-generation Dodge Durango will “take full advantage of our multi-energy strategy,” a company spokeswoman said.
Stellantis committed to build the next-generation Durango SUV at its assembly plant in Detroit, and to invest in operations in Toledo, Ohio, and Kokomo, Indiana, where it will build a new engine. All those investments were previously promised during negotiations with the UAW, except for the engine plans in Indiana, which are new, a spokeswoman said.
The UAW, which had threatened a strike over the plant delays, lauded the developments as a win.
“This victory is a testament to the power of workers standing together and holding a billion-dollar corporation accountable,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in an emailed statement. “We’ve shown that we will do what it takes to protect the good union jobs that are the lifeblood of places like Belvidere, Detroit, Kokomo, and beyond.”
The Belvidere plant was shuttered after Stellantis declined to invest in the next generation of its Jeep Cherokee SUV made there, leaving a hole in its product lineup. The replacement for that vehicle, a hybrid, is due out this summer and is being made in Mexico, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president for global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.
Stellantis had also canceled plans for the Durango in Detroit while planning to make a smaller, electric version of the SUV at its Windsor, Canada plant. That product has been canceled as well, he said.
“No one ever said it was a replacement for the Durango, because if they had a replacement and moved it to Canada, the UAW would have been very upset,” Fiorani said. “Windsor is getting new product, but they are currently in flux.”
(Updates with UAW comment from 11th paragraph, investment details throughout.)
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