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The United Automobile Workers union has been pressing the automaker, which owns Chrysler and Jeep, to revive the plant in Belvidere, Ill.
By Neal E. Boudette
Stellantis, the corporate owner of Chrysler and Jeep, said Wednesday that it planned to reopen a factory in Illinois and build production elsewhere in the United States, a resolution likely to follow several media disputes with the United Auto Workers union. .
The reopening is also likely to help the company in its relations with the Trump administration, and is among the first big changes made by an interim management team that has been running the company since its chief executive, Carlos Tavares, resigned in December.
“These measures are our commitment to invest in our shipping activities in the United States. To expand our automotive production and our manufacturing here,” said Antonio Filosa, director of the company’s operation in the United States from the north, in a press release.
The announcement follows a recent meeting between Stellantis’s chairman, John Elkann, and President Trump, the company said. Mr. Elkann told the president that Stellantis, whose headquarters are in Amsterdam, aimed to strengthen its U.S. manufacturing base and was committed to safeguarding American jobs and to the broader U.S. economy.
Stellantis, who also owns Fiat, Dodge, Ram and Peugeot, identified the Illinois plant in Belvidere in early 2023. Later that year, he agreed to a new contract with the ‘U. A. W. To reopen it. In August 2024, the company said it delayed reopening after its sales and profits fell.
The U.A.W. responded by filing grievances with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Stellantis was not abiding by the 2023 contract.
Stellantis on Wednesday said it plans to build a midsize pickup truck in Belvedere and will rehire about 1,500 union workers.
The company also said it would move forward with plans to produce a new Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle at a plant in Detroit. The U.A.W. had feared Stellantis was preparing to move production of the vehicle to Mexico, and the union had filed grievances on that issue as well.
“This victory is a testament to the strength of united staff and holding a multibillion-dollar company accountable,” UAW President Shawn Fain said Wednesday in a statement. “We have shown that we will do whatever it takes to create smart union jobs, which are the important detail of places like Belvidere, Detroit, Kokomo and beyond. “
The White House press workplace did not respond to a request for comment.
In its statement, Stellantis also said it would make investments in its plants in Toledo, Ohio, where it makes the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator models. Additional investments will also come to an engine plant in Kokomo, Ind., the company said.
Neal E. Boudette is in Michigan and has covered the auto industry for two decades. He joined The New York Times in 2016 after more than 15 years at the Wall Street Journal. Learn more about Neal E. Boudette
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