Stellantis adds more downtime at Illinois, Mexico plants

Stellantis plans to extend summer downtime at two of its assembly plants and start production back up at another.

Operations will be idle at the company’s Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico the week of July 5 because of the continuing effects of the global semiconductor shortage. Those plants manufacture two Jeep models, the Cherokee and Compass crossovers.

In the meantime, the minivan-making Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario will resume production with two shifts beginning the week of July 5.

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in a statement.

Forecasting company AutoForecast Solutions estimates the North American industry could lose more than 340,000 scheduled vehicles over the summer as a result of the chip shortage.

The Detroit News reported the downtime on Wednesday.