Jeep Cherokee plant down for week because of chip shortage

DETROIT — The Jeep Cherokee assembly plant in Belvidere, Ill., is shutting down for a week because of the microchip shortage that is plaguing manufacturers around the world.

The Stellantis plant, which has about 3,800 workers on two daily shifts, began its downtime Monday. Work is scheduled to resume the morning of Feb. 15.

“We are working closely with our global supply chain network to manage the manufacturing impact caused by the global microchip shortage and will continue to make production adjustments as necessary,” a Stellantis spokeswoman said in a statement.

The Jeep plant is the latest victim of the chip shortage that has derailed production schedules in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Stellantis also idled its minivan plant in Ontario for three weeks beginning Monday. Ford last week said it would curtail F-150 production at plants in Michigan and Missouri, while General Motors is slowing or halting production at four plants in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

The chip shortages, in some cases, have been exacerbated by actions taken against Chinese chip companies by former President Donald Trump’s administration. In addition to the Detroit 3, the shortage has affected Volkswagen Group, Subaru Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.

Greg Layson and Reuters contributed to this report.