Stellantis Confirms Midsize Pickup for Belvidere Assembly

Stellantis has reportedly committed itself to reactivating the Belvidere Assembly Plant, with the intent to build midsize pickups. The resulting vehicles will undoubtedly settle years worth of rumors that Ram would eventually offer something to compete with trucks like the Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma.

With Ram pulling the Dakota (below) in 2011, to focus entirely on full-sized pickups, this has been a long time coming. With practically every single model from every single manufacturer ballooning in both size and price over the last fifteen years, the market is getting hungry for something a little more reasonable.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Stellantis COO Antonio Filosa issued a memo explaining that the company is planning to manufacture a midsize truck at its stalled facility in Belvidere, Illinois. U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have already proclaimed this as a victory for the state — citing that the decision should bring back as many as 1,500 jobs to the region.

The relevant facility was idled in 2023, with Stellantis hinting that it would eventually reopen. But this eventually led to a feud with the UAW after the union accused the automaker of not adhering to agreed upon terms to reactivate the plant within the allotted timeframe stipulated by their contract. Meanwhile, the Biden administration was preparing to offer hundreds of millions of dollars to convert Belvidere into an EV plant.

“Stellantis’ investment in auto plants across the country, especially at Belvidere Assembly plant, is welcome news,” Durbin and Duckworth said in a joint statement. “And with the support of UAW, our nation’s auto industry is moving toward developing a more sustainable, cleaner future for transportation.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker likewise went out of his way to take some of the credit.

“My administration has worked tirelessly with our partners to secure this investment and we are excited to see it come to fruition,” Pritzker stated. “We know there is more work to be done to see this project through and remain committed to expanding economic opportunities for Illinois workers, businesses, and communities to thrive.”

We can only assume Donald Trump will be next, based on reports that he held a meeting with Stellantis chairman John Elkann spoke with President Trump before this week’s inauguration.

Your guess is as good as ours as to who actually finalized the deal. But the UAW seems happy that Stellantis has said it would indeed agree to restore operations at the Belvidere plant in 2027 as promised. Additionally, the union has offered praise to the manufacturer for vowing to build the next-gen Dodge Durango at the Detroit Assembly Complex. Further investments have been promised for Ohio’s Toledo Assembly Complex (where Jeep builds the Wrangler and Gladiator) and the engine/transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana.

While it could be argued that Ram will be offering a midsize pickup too late in the game for it to matter, the brand also has an opportunity to deliver something that better caters to the needs of today’s drivers. There are certainly plenty of customers interested in tech-laden pickups that are totally willing to pay elevated prices. But there seems to be just as many wanting something that stresses the fundamentals over the latest features who aren’t interested in paying more than necessary.

The company will presumably need to make a decision regarding which direction it wants to go with the forthcoming pickup. But we’d only be guessing as to which path it will take. Trying to build something from the ground up is typically more costly and time consuming, whereas rebadging a preexisting product saves on those headaches while limiting what can be done with the final design.

In our previous coverage of the topic, we speculated that the most-likely scenario would be for Ram to repurpose one of the pickups it already sells in South America. The most obvious candidate would be the 2025 Ram 1200 (above), which is based on the Peugeot Landtrek and Fiat Titano. Despite previously being based on the Mitsubishi Triton, Stellantis has opted to use the Chinese Changan Kaicene F70 as the blueprint for its current line of midsize trucks.

Adapting the vehicle for the United States will certainly result in changes. However, the current model comes with a turbocharged 2.4-liter gasoline engine with 207 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque.

As for when all of the above is happening, nobody knows. Belvedere is getting an investment of $1.2 billion in order to become active by 2027. But we don’t know if that means if those trucks will be rolling off the line at the start of the year. Obviously, we’ll be keeping an eye on the situation.

[Images: Stellantis]

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Source: The Truth About Cars