A local United Auto Workers union leader said it appears Stellantis NV will delay reopening its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, but the automaker isn't confirming any change in plans for the 5 million-square-foot facility that closed in 2023.

Matt Frantzen, president of UAW Local 1268, which represents members in Belvidere, said the company's original plan to restart vehicle production by 2027 now is set to be delayed about seven months until mid-2028. He cited recent discussions between senior UAW officials and Stellantis executives as well as documents from the automaker.

That delay means production wouldn't start until after the April 30, 2028, expiration of the union's current contract with the automaker, which for Frantzen raises concerns about whether the company will follow through with the reopening and bringing back former workers, or if the facility could once again be used as a bargaining chip in the contract negotiations. The plant was already a flashpoint in the 2023 contract talks between the union and automaker, and its revival has long been a political talking point for both parties, with state and federal government committing hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to the project in recent years.

"It's really a waiting game, begging for any kind of communication from the corporation," Frantzen told The Detroit News.

Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said the carmaker's "plan of record has not changed" for Belvidere. Announced in October, its plan calls for a more than $600 million investment to reopen the facility, hire about 3,300 workers, and build the Jeep Cherokee and Compass SUVs there, with "an initial production launch expected in 2027."

A presentation to union members late last year showed Compass production starting by December 2027 with the Cherokee rolling off the line by November 2028. It called for two work shifts initially, and potential production volumes of more than 100,000 vehicles annually for both models.

Plans to build the Cherokee and Compass at the factory were included in a larger $13 billion Stellantis investment announcement into U.S. manufacturing and other areas. Originally, Belvidere was supposed to reopen and produce a midsize pickup, but that vehicle instead will be made at the Toledo Assembly Complex.

Under the prior pickup production plan, Frantzen said Belvidere would've likely started hiring by now, ahead of a mid-2027 launch. The delays mean his members — thousands of whom were laid off or transferred to work at other Stellantis plants around the country when the plant closed in early 2023 — are still waiting on a firm timeline to come home.

"They're not happy," Frantzen said. "The concern is getting this done by the expiration of the contract."

Frantzen said there have been "small steps" taken to reopen the factory, like hiring a human resources staff. But remodeling and retooling work has yet to begin.

Jeep's all-new Cherokee is already being built at the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico, but production is expected to shift to Belvidere in 2028, according to Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC.

An all-new version of the smaller Compass was originally supposed to be built in Brampton, Ontario, starting this year. But those plans were canceled, to the frustration of Canadian officials, and now the next-generation Compass won't come out in the United States until Belvidere reopens, Fiorani said. The current version of the Compass — built in Mexico — is expected to remain on the market through the 2027 model year.

©2026 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.