Automaker Stellantis plans to suspend operations at a Jeep-branded factory in the United States, citing difficulties from the Covid-19 pandemic and rising costs related to the electric switch.
Production at the Belvidere assembly site in Illinois, where Jeep Cherokee SUVs are manufactured, will cease February 28, the company said on Friday, December 9, 2022.
The approximately 1,350 employees of the factory will be made redundant.
The company, which is evaluating other ways of using the site, “will seek to place terminated permanent employees into full-time positions as they become available”.
“Our industry has been impacted by a multitude of factors such as the Covid 19 pandemic and the global shortage of semiconductors, but the most important challenge is the rising costs associated with the electrification of the automotive market”justified Stellantis.
“An Insult”
The American trade union representing the auto sector, UAW, criticized the decision.
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“We believe Stellantis is grossly misleading in idling this plant that has produced profits for the company since 1965,” adds UAW President Ray Curry. https://t.co/NxVIf9KEBk
—UAW (@UAW) December 9, 2022
Products imported from other countries may be produced at the plant as a switch to electric “create opportunities for new products”commented Cindy Estrada, head of Stellantis within the union.
“Companies like Stellantis are receiving billions of dollars in government incentives to move to clean energy. It’s an insult to all taxpayers who don’t give that money back to our communities.”she added.
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