Illinois plant making Jeep Cherokees idles, production moved to Mexico

An auto assembly plant in northern Illinois is set to close down at the end of the workday Tuesday, Feb. 28. Automaker Stellantis announced it would be putting the Belvidere Assembly Plant on idle indefinitely, laying off the plant’s 1,200 workers. The decision follows several years of downsizing as well as dwindling demand for the plant’s main product: the Jeep Cherokee.

The Belvidere plant became the exclusive home for the Jeep Cherokee in 2017. Last year, Cherokee sales fell 55%.

Belvidere was reportedly lined up to transition to an electric vehicle plant. Instead, Stellantis announced the electric vehicles will be built in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The automaker is also building a $5 billion battery plant in Windsor.

As for the Jeep Cherokee, production will be moved down to the Stellantis plant in Toluca, Mexico. The closing of the Illinois auto assembly plant and the moving of production to Mexico may become a trend. Mexico has remained committed to the cheaper production of oil, coal and natural gas energy in the face of the United States and Canada focusing on the more expensive electrical energy production.