Stellantis: New Jeep Compass slated to roll off Belvidere assembly line in December 2027

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — A new Jeep Compass is expected to roll off the Belvidere Assembly Plant line in December 2027, according to a new timeline released by Stellantis.

UAW Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen said, “We haven’t been told when members will start getting recalled back into the plant. With pilots slated to run in December 2026, we should see some earlier movement on recalls than I was expecting.”

According to information shared at the UAW-Stellantis Council meeting last week, the automaker expects to hire 3,300 workers at the former Chrysler plant to make both the Compass and a forthcoming Jeep Cherokee model, expected in November 2028.

Work to produce the Compass is expected to begin in December 2026.

The company expects to run two shifts, with a possible third shift to be added in the second half of 2029, which has the potential to increase staffing to 4,100.

The plant’s closure in 2023 forced many workers to seek employment elsewhere, impacting the local economy significantly. 

In October, Stellantis said it planned to invest $13 billion in the United States to increase its domestic manufacturing footprint, and launch five new vehicles over the next four years.

Stellantis said it would invest more than $600 million to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant and expand production of its Jeep Compass and Jeep Cherokee models for the U.S. market.

In 2024, Stellantis committed to invest $5 billion to retool the plant for production of a new, midsized pickup truck, an adjacent battery plant, and an Amazon-styled Mopar parts distribution.

That project was backed by $334.8 million in federal funding announced by the Biden administration to help Stellantis convert the Belvidere plant to build electric vehicles.

Stellantis later walked back its timeline, citing “market conditions” for the delay in the plant’s reopening, as demand for EVs slowed.