Jeep will idle a plant in Illinois next February.
Roughly 1,350 workers will be cut.
This story doesn’t look good on Stellantis and Jeep. Essentially, Jeep will stop production output at its assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, beginning in February 2023.The reason for cutting production and laying off 1,350 employees? Building EVs is expensive.
It’s true that EVs are costly, but then so is assembling almost anything in 2022-2023. Nearly all automakers have pledged to switch over to manufacturing only EVs in the future. In July of 2021, Stellantis announced that 100% of its European and 50% of its US sales would be of battery electric vehicles by the end of 2030 as noted by Business Insider.
It is unlikely that the Belvidere plant, which currently produces Jeep Cherokee SUVs, will return to business as usual after it is idled next February. Stellantis does hope to repurpose the facility in the future, however.
“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,” the company said in a statement.
What this means for the Jeep Cherokee’s future is uncertain.
