Stellantis plans to invest $13 billion in the United States and increase U.S. production by 50 percent.
The company claims that it’s the largest in the 100-year history of Stellantis (and its predecessors like Fiat Chrysler).
Whether this is a response to President Donald Trump’s attempts to use tariffs to encourage companies to increase production in America, or not, is unclear.
What is clear is that Stellantis seems starved for product across its brands, and this plan suggests new models will be launching at a fast and furious pace.
Jeep has two models slated for it’s Belvidere plant in northern Illinois, about 90 minutes from Chicago. Stellantis also has plans to build a small pickup truck — Dakota? — in Toledo.
The Warren, Michigan plant will expand to build a SUV with both extended-range electric and gas power. A similar powertrain choice is also available in the 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which is already built at Warren. The new SUV will be produced alongside the Jeep. The next-gen Dodge Durango will be built just down the road in Detroit proper.
Meanwhile, a new four-cylinder engine will be manufactured in Kokomo, Indiana.
So that’s five product launches ad 19 planned product refreshes, according to Stellantis.
So, to break it all down, the Belvidere plant is getting the Jeep Compass and expanded production of the next Jeep Cherokee (production of that vehicle will start in Mexico). That will be worth about 3,000 jobs when the plant reopens in 2027. The total investment there? $600 million.
Stellantis will be putting $400 million to the Toledo plant, adding about 900 jobs, as it gears up to build a mid-size pickup truck alongside the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator, with a planned launch of 2028.
The large SUV slated to be built in Warren will launch in 2028, and the plant will get about $100 million in retooling and add about 900 jobs.
Production of the next Durango at Detroit Assembly Jefferson will require an investment of $130 million, with launch set for 2029.
Finally, the production of the new GMET4 EVO, which launches next year, in Kokomo will require $100 million and add 100 jobs.
Right now, the American footprint for Stellantis is 34 plants, parts distribution centers, and R&D facilities across 14 states. That adds up to 48,000 jobs, 2,600 dealers, and 2,300 suppliers according to the company.
[Image: Stellantis]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
Brampton, Ontario is losing the Jeep Compass to Illinois. Our “net zero” politicians are useless and foolish to believe that Canada (Ontario) is an automotive powerhouse. We have too small a population to hold on to such an industry for much longer.
These type of changes take a long, long time.
