In a dramatic turnabout that defuses months of wrangling with the UAW, Stellantis says it will restart its idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and build the next-generation Dodge Durango in Detroit.

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann revealed a series of significant U.S. investment plans during a meeting with President Donald Trump.

The UAW believed the company was going back on its plant investment commitments. Now, as Trump takes office, the automaker has renewed its U.S. plans.

Stellantis announced it will reopen the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and launch production of a new midsize truck.

Automaker Stellantis plans to produce a new midsize pickup truck at the assembly plant near Rockford. The move will put about 1,500 UAW-represented employees back to work.

Stellantis will move ahead with plans to build a midsize pickup truck—likely for the Ram brand—at its idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, in 2027.

Automaker Stellantis plans to reopen an assembly plant in Illinois and build the next generation Dodge Durango in Detroit, the automaker said Wednesday.

The Stellantis Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2023. A top Stellantis NV executive told employees Wednesday that the automaker will build a midsize pickup truck at the currently closed assembly plant. (Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Stellantis' pledges included increasing production at the Toledo Machining Plant and reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant, which will restore about 1,500 UAW jobs.

Stellantis will also reopen its shuttered Belvidere plant in Illinois and invest in its Kokomo engine plant in Indiana.

The new truck will bring 1500 UAW members back to work at Stellantis's Belvidere, Illinois, manufacturing plant, according to a memo obtained by Crain's.

The efforts of the United Auto Workers bureaucracy to collaborate with Trump, based on their shared "America First" economic nationalism, have accelerated in since the inauguration.