Stellantis Lays Off 150 Employees From Its Belvidere Assembly Plant:

Stellantis Lays Off 150 Employees From Its Belvidere Assembly Plant:​

Decreased Global Demand, Is Reason Behind Move...​

Stellantis has announced that it has indefinitely laid off 150 employees at its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois earlier this week. The plant currently produces the midsized Jeep® Cherokee SUV, which has had several pauses in production recently due to decreased global demand and semiconductor chip shortages which have plagued the entire automotive industry … (read full article...)

Stellantis Lays Off 150 Employees From Its Belvidere Assembly Plant:

Stellantis has announced that it has indefinitely laid off 150 employees at its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois earlier this week. The plant currently produces the midsized Jeep® Cherokee SUV, which has had several pauses in production recently due to decreased global demand and...

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[patfromigh]

How many RAV4s did Toyota sell in the US last year? How about the Chevy Equinox?

The Jeep Cherokee needs a serious update under the hood to be competitive again. It also needs to stop being a fleet queen. The strange thing is the competitive makes don't really have all that great of a powertrain either. The Atkinson cycle four in the RAV4 bucks and surges, while the tiny turbo four in the Chevy can be tepid at times. I guess what Stellantis needs to do is seriously decide what kind of vehicle their D-segment Jeep needs to be. Right now all they are doing is digging themselves into a deeper hole.

Should a bad Jeep displace a good Chrysler or Dodge on the production line? There is no doubt the contemporary sedan concept is dead. A Chrysler branded vehicle styled after the AR Kamel concept with the 200 sedan drivetrain would have been a good replacement for the 200 sedan at Belevidere. Well that can't happen anymore, because there is only one chance to cash in on opportunity costs. FCA bet the plant on all Jeep Cherokees.

 

[cgseller]

How many RAV4s did Toyota sell in the US last year? How about the Chevy Equinox?

The Jeep Cherokee needs a serious update under the hood to be competitive again. It also needs to stop being a fleet queen. The strange thing is the competitive makes don't really have all that great of a powertrain either. The Atkinson cycle four in the RAV4 bucks and surges, while the tiny turbo four in the Chevy can be tepid at times. I guess what Stellantis needs to do is seriously decide what kind of vehicle their D-segment Jeep needs to be. Right now all they are doing is digging themselves into a deeper hole.

Should a bad Jeep displace a good Chrysler or Dodge on the production line? There is no doubt the contemporary sedan concept is dead. A Chrysler branded vehicle styled after the AR Kamel concept with the 200 sedan drivetrain would have been a good replacement for the 200 sedan at Belevidere. Well that can't happen anymore, because there is only one chance to cash in on opportunity costs. FCA bet the plant on all Jeep Cherokees.

Was the Chrysler 200 also able to be produced in the Belevedere plant - but they decided to not jeopardize the profitable KL with those logistics?

 

[patfromigh]

I am just assuming the they could also build the the 200 where the Dart was because both cars were on the same platform and very close in size. The Dart, 200, and Jeep Cherokee are all on CUSW platform.

The decision to drop the sedans was the proper one to make, with the market collapsing. Not having a Chrysler or Dodge branded crossover vehicle to replace those sedans is probably a mistake. There was the ancient Journey, but it didn't fit in Belvidere. The only vehicle occupying Belvidere is the Cherokee and that model has a very wide price range. In a perfect world the lower end trims would be covered by another brand to preserve the value of the Jeep. I just think there wasn't any money for it.

 

[TripleT]

There is a part shortage and they are going to start make the transition to the KM.

How did that descend into a Dodge and Chrysler need product discussion again.

You all need to buckle up because in the last 90 days all sorts of bad things are happening in the supply chain. More shortages are on the way.

And yes Toyota has large capacity, quit equating sales with success without considering capacity.

Resin manufacturers are saying half in the next couple months. Good luck making cars with half the resin for interior and exterior components.

 

[AjsKingdom]

There is a part shortage and they are going to start make the transition to the KM.

How did that descend into a Dodge and Chrysler need product discussion again.

You all need to buckle up because in the last 90 days all sorts of bad things are happening in the supply chain. More shortages are on the way.

And yes Toyota has large capacity, quit equating sales with success without considering capacity.

Resin manufacturers are saying half in the next couple months. Good luck making cars with half the resin for interior and exterior components.

What is KM?? Is this a new platform?

 

[patfromigh]

What is KM?? Is this a new platform?

Same platform, new generation. That I know of, what the changes are is a deep dark secret.

It has been the practice of FCA to introduce hybrid and electrification technology with a new generation of a vehicle. The Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen hybrids were pre-FCA designs. Even the 48V mild hybrids require significant change to a vehicle. Large battery packs for plugin hybrids require changes in the production line, but the platform may remain the same.

I'm hoping for some styling changes to further differentiate the Cherokee from the Compass. My fear is the hybrid Cherokee arrival will be a long drawn out process. This what happened to the Ford Escape hybrids. Ford ran into supplier issues (much of it batteries), and the pandemic slowed down the roll out because various components where in short supply, as well as the new employee protections put a crimp in production.

 

[TripleT]

What is KM?? Is this a new platform?

Platform refers to the carrier and build window, that was CUSW and I have not seen any information that changes will be made in that area.

KM is the product code for the next Cherokee.... please everyone the Product code changes doesn't not indicate platform changes or not. An Not changing the platform doesn't mean the architecture is not modified.

This continues to be a source of confusion in this new world of computational optimization and development where platform is just another design element. Where a build point may or may not be optimal, but given the implementation investment becomes a mild compromise

I'd like the Cherokee to return to its edgy styling, for all the whining and complaining it sold better and set it self apart and unique in the product lineup.

 

[AjsKingdom]

Platform refers to the carrier and build window, that was CUSW and I have not seen any information that changes will be made in that area.

KM is the product code for the next Cherokee.... please everyone the Product code changes doesn't not indicate platform changes or not. An Not changing the platform doesn't mean the architecture is not modified.

This continues to be a source of confusion in this new world of computational optimization and development where platform is just another design element. Where a build point may or may not be optimal, but given the implementation investment becomes a mild compromise

I'd like the Cherokee to return to its edgy styling, for all the whining and complaining it sold better and set it self apart and unique in the product lineup.

Thanks so much for the detailed response! I am new to this forum thing although I have been in the auto industry a long time. I too hope to see something in the Cherokee's future that will set it apart from its smaller and larger siblings. I was hoping there was more info on the future plans than I was finding on my own. I hadn't heard of the KM. Hopefully we get through the part issues quickly and have some positive news in the near future.

 

[TripleT]

Well everything is 9 to 12 months behind, this resin thing is concerning. I would effect new production less as parts are in the supply chain, but new parts might be hard to come by as they haven't been made yet.

 

[patfromigh]

The Cherokee will have a narrow market space to fit into. There will be the mid-cycle refresh on the Compass below it and the new 2-row Grand Cherokee above it. I was surprised at the starting price of the 3-row GCL and I am guessing the 2-row will have a lower starting price. The Cherokee will bump into that price range. It would make sense to return to the edgier styling so the Cherokee stands out from the other Jeep models.