October 15, 2025 - Stellantis to Spend $13B on U.S. Production

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 15, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  

After months of deliberations about how to respond to a shifting market landscape and the tariff policies of the Trump administration, Stellantis has finally announced its plans for the next several years. The French-Italian-American automaker will invest $13 billion to produce new vehicles at factories inside the U.S. 

Among the most crucial is the future of Jeep and the Belvidere, Illinois, plant. That plant produced the previous generation Cherokee but has been idle for several years. It was scheduled to build a new midsize Ram pickup truck, but that product will instead be built at the Toledo, Ohio, factory that builds the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator. The 2026 Cherokee, which is just starting production in Mexico, will now be built in Belvidere from 2027. The compact Jeep Compass was to have been built starting this year in Brampton, Ontario, at the plant that formerly made the Dodge Charger and Challenger and the Chrysler 300. Work on that retooling was paused last spring when tariffs took effect. That product will instead be made in Belvidere. 

The Warren, Michigan, plant that currently builds the Jeep Grand Wagoneer will add a new full-size SUV with gas and extended range EV powertrains starting in 2028. While no brand has been identified, there has been speculation for several years that an SUV will be added to the Ram lineup, although it could also be a Dodge. Stellantis will also invest in its Kokomo, Indiana, engine plant for an upgraded version of its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine from 2026. The Jefferson plant in Detroit will also build a next-generation Dodge Durango beginning in 2029. 

While this will increase utilization of Stellantis' U.S. plants, it will probably result in reduced production in both Canada and Mexico, as we're seeing from GM already. The downside of this for U.S. automakers is that it may lead those countries to welcome new investment from China, bringing that competition even closer.

Thanks for listening.