The UAW’s strike against Stellantis was in some ways the most bitter of the six labor disputes with the former “Big Three” in the US and Canada. Stellantis had a list of 18 facilities they planned to close; these reportedly included Belvidere Assembly and Trenton Engine.
In the end, Stellantis agreed to a large variety of investments—some of which were almost certainly threats made for the purposes of extracting concessions from the UAW, and some of which they appeared to be more serious about (Belvidere and Trenton heading the list).
Belvidere is the headline, set to produce a midsize truck with two shifts and adding an EV battery plant in the area; that’s a $3.2 billion investment adding around 1,300 jobs. Trenton Engine is keeping both Classic and PUG Pentastar V6 engines; Classic ends in 2024, but Upgrade goes on through 2028, when Pacifica finally ends. It’s unlikely that Pacifica will be the only user of the reliable, inexpensive Pentastar V6.
Dundee is set to launch two new engines, the GME Turbo 4 EVO (Hurricane4) in 2024 and the Peugeot EP6 in 2025. They did lose the Pentastar to get this work. They will start making Frame and Large platform battery trays next year (2024) and beam machining for STLA Large arrives in 2025.
Toledo Machining keeps 850RE and 948TE torque converters, along with the current heavy duty pickup steering columns and Wrangler/Gladiator Super-Modules, to the end of the contract in 2028. STLA Large and Medium cradles will start up, along with half shafts.
Kokomo Engine is keeping GME T4, and Transmission is keeping 850RE and SI-EVT, while adding 880RE and electric drive motor gearbox covers in 2024. The fourth-generation eight-speed 880RE automatic appears to have an 800 Nm capacity. Kokomo casting will get a large number of production items to support new vehicles, including Hurricane oil pans and EP6 bedplate and blocks.
New products were promised to Detroit Assembly (formerly Mack), Warren, Toledo, and Sterling Heights, and to the Sterling and Warren stamping plants.
Belvidere, Illinois is also getting a huge hub for parts distribution which was probably already in the cards, given that the city had bought land near the plant. This parts distribution center (PDC) will result in the shutdown of Marysville, Chicago, and Milwaukee, so it’s not exactly a “win.” Likewise, a new hub in Fishkill, New York, will take in work from New York and Boston. The Macon, Georgia hub shuts down Orlando and Atlanta; and Metro Detroit shuts down Centerline, Warren, and Sherwood, as well as Centerline Warehouse and Packaging. A new Reno PDC takes over from Reno and Los Angeles, while South Central Texas consolidates with Dallas. These distribution centers will launch from 2024 through 2027.
