The reopening of Belvidere as an assembly plant won’t take place until 2027, which seemed like a surprisingly long time away—until more information was released yesterday.
The local newspaper, the Rockford Register Star, described the deal as changing the large factory on the site into a “megahub,” or an extra-large parts distribution center. While it isn’t especially close to an airport, it is quite near Route 90, a major thoroughfare, and the Union Pacifica railroad.
The new midsized pickups will be made in a brand new assembly plant, possibly using the output from the new $3.2 billion joint-venture battery plant to be built in the same area. The new factory would cost $1.5 billion, with a two-shift capacity of around 100,000 trucks per year. These plans are all contingent on union members’ approval of the UAW’s contract with Stellantis.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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