Stellantis announced that it will make reductions in its workforce at its Belvidere plant where it is dedicated to the production of Jeep vehicles, specifically the Jeep Cherokee model, motivated by the high cost of switching to the production of electric cars.

The company had warned about the high costs of producing electric vehicles, however, it has said that it will invest more than 31.6 billion dollars until 2025 to electrify its line of vehicles, while expecting electric vehicles to represent the 100% of its European sales and 50% of those made in the United States by 2030.

As part of these plans, it announced that as of February 28, 2023, the Illinois plant will shut down indefinitely, although other options are being considered.

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According to some sources, cited by Business Insider, CBC and Reuters, the Stellantis plant in Toluca, in the States of Mexico, would go on to produce the vehicles that were made in Illinois, adding other electric models.

However, Stellantis has not confirmed that information, saying only that it will not comment on the future of the Cherokee model. "This is an important vehicle in the lineup, and we remain committed to this midsize SUV segment for the long term," company spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in an email to Reuters.

Sam Fiorani, head of production forecasting firm AutoForecast Solutions, said automakers will continue to take money from slow-selling vehicles like the Jeep Cherokee. He also said that the Cherokee's replacement, along with other vehicles on a new electrified platform, will be produced in Toluca.

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If the transfer of the production of the successor to the Cherokee and its electric version or other models of the Stellantis group to the Toluca plant is confirmed, this announcement could be accompanied by investments in the range of between 500 and 1,000 million dollars, according to the Automotive Directory Business Intelligence specialist, Daniel Romo.

"For some time, the possibility of renovating the Stellantis facilities in Toluca to produce electric vehicles has been discussed and perhaps this is the sign that it will finally happen, only time will tell," he told Cluster Industrial.

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