The recently idled Belvidere Assembly Plant, that formally built the Jeep Cherokee, looks like it will build a Ram midsize pickup truck, and it could be a hybrid.
Among many tentative agreements made by Stellantis in its agreement with the UAW, the Belvidere Assembly Plant will reopen, and it will build a Ram midsize pickup truck. The story, which was first posted by our friends at The Autopian, covers the huge win by the UAW in their negotiations with Stellantis. Among other concessions, this tentative agreement brings back workers, increases wages, and it reopens Belvidere for production.
“Today, as we announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with the UAW on a new labor contract, I would like to thank all the negotiating teams who have worked tirelessly for many weeks to get to this point. We look forward to welcoming our 43,000 employees back to work and resuming operations to serve our customers and execute our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan to maintain Stellantis’ position at the forefront of innovation.
This agreement is now subject to ratification by Stellantis’ UAW-represented employees and, out of respect for the process, we will decline further comment to allow the UAW to share the details with its members.”
Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart
This is great news for the workers and for midsize truck fans. Unfortunately, this announcement leaves a lot of unanswered questions. There is no official announcement from Stellantis about the truck. The information we’ve received comes from The Autopian’s David Tracy who penned the story.
““We’ve achieved what just weeks ago we were told was impossible,” announced United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain today after his team penned a tentative agreement with Stellantis that promises to start building a midsize truck at the Belvidere Assembly Plant, an Illinois facility idled earlier this year after building Chrysler products for over half a century.”
The Autopian
Fortunately, we trust Tracy’s sources and instincts. We know that Stellantis has announced a midsize truck before, but announcements are far from casting the die. If an assembly plant is opening with the sole purpose of building a certain vehicle, there’s reason to celebrate.
With all of that being said, there are a ton of questions that are left unanswered:
- Does this mean the Ram Rampage is going into production?
- Will there be an all-new, larger pickup called the “Dakota?”
- The UAW’s increase in electrification means more PHEV and hybrid powertrains, which one (if not both) will this vehicle get?
- Will this truck compete with Tacoma’s or Mavericks?
Stay tunned to many follow-up stories on this one!
