Over a thousand employees at Stellantis’s assembly plant in Illinois are potentially set to lose their jobs as the company struggles with rising manufacturing costs.
The Belvidere plant employs around 1,350 workers and is a site that manufactures the Jeep Cherokee SUV. Stellantis plans to indefinitely halt operations at the plant, which will result in indefinite layoffs. The manufacturer cited the rising production cost of electric vehicles as a factor in its decision, adding that it might not resume operations at the site as it considers alternative options.
The industry “has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market,” Stellantis said in a statement….