The Belvidere Assembly Plant (BVAP) is an automobile production facility owned and operated by

Stellantis North America Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

. The factory opened in 1965 in

Belvidere, Illinois Belvidere is a city in Boone County, settled on the Kishwaukee River in far northern Illinois, United States. Known as the 'City of Murals', Belvidere is home to several public art installations throughout the North and South State Street histo ...

, United States, and currently assembles the

Jeep Cherokee The Jeep Cherokee is a line of SUVs manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Originally marketed as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer, the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first compact SUVs and into its curr ...

History

The factory was built in 1964 and 1965 in the south part of Belvidere, Illinois, adjacent to

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

. The first production line vehicle was made on July 7, 1965, assembling the new

Chrysler C platform Chrysler's C platform was the basis for rear wheel drive full-size cars from 1965 to 1978. Although often misclassified, 1964 and earlier full-size Chrysler products, and 1966 and earlier Imperials are not C-bodies. Wheelbases: * 119 in ** 1 ...

vechiles. The Belvidere Assembly Plant is adjacent to the Chrysler operated Belvidere Satellite Stamping Plant. The stamping plant produces sheet metal parts for the production line. The factory has of floor space over of land, and had produced 5.9 million vehicles by the end of the 1993 model year. In 2006, the factory became the first Chrysler plant to use a body shop consisting entirely of robotics. The 780 robots in the body shop can make necessary tool changes automatically, within a 47-second cycle time. The factory is capable of building three models of vehicles as well as test-building a fourth vehicle. The Simulation (SIM) Room comprises of the factory and is used to create a miniature production process and to test the layout of job stations, and creating standard work instructions. A two-foot grid is painted on the floor to measure dimensions and employee walk-time during simulated production and efficiency modeling.Smith, Jack
Building cars, building teams (page 10)
Plant Engineering, 1 December 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2009. In October 2010, it was announced that $600 million was to be invested into the Belvidere Assembly Plant in preparation for 2012-model-year vehicles to be built there. The

Dodge Dart (PF) The Dodge Dart is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, four-door compact sedan that was manufactured and marketed by then FCA US LLC, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The automobile made its debut at the 2012 North American Internatio ...

was announced in December of 2011 to be built at the plant. Union Pacific provides rail freight for the plant. On December 9th, 2022 Belvidere Assembly was placed into indefinite closure effective February 28th, 2023.

Labor

In 1985 there were 4,000 employees working at the plant.Belvidere workers not part of short-lived UAW strike
Associated Press / Businessrockford, 11 October 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2009. At the start of the Neon car production, there were 3,250 hourly and 250 salaried employees working as of 10 November 1993. 2,650 employees were working at the factory at the start of 2007 model year Jeep Compass production, up from 1,700 in 2005 when one shift of employees was in place. However, the third shift, which was first instituted in 2006, was discontinued in 2008. The plant was idled during the Chrysler bankruptcy filing and became a one-shift operation from July 2009. A 'temporary' second shift was added by October 2009. In May 2019, Chrysler laid off 1,403 employees after the "C" shift was eliminated. Production of vehicles dropped from 263,521 in 2008 to 84,609 in 2009. The workforce is represented by the United Auto Workers, Local 1268 and 1761. There have been two UAW-ordered strikes in the plant's history. In 1973, there was a nine-day strike over the right to turn down overtime, pension funding, and health and safety measures. In 1981, there was a nine-day strike to receive pay parity with Ford and GM workers. Chrysler proposed eliminating several job classifications so workers could be required to perform more than one task. In 2009 the future of the plant was uncertain. Haig Stoddard, a Global Insight analyst, cited the plant as one of three plants that had been considered in a plan to close one plant.

Awards

In 2005, the factory was the recipient of Plant Engineering's Top Plant Award for efficient turnover in the changeover from Neon production to Caliber production. American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (ACOEM) Corporate Health Achievement Award awarded to the Chrysler Group after a tour of Belvidere Assembly Plant.

National Safety Council The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressi ...

2004 Green Cross for Safety. The J.D. Power Awards for Manufacturing Quality, Bronze was given to the plant in 2020.

Vehicles produced

Current

(2017-Present)

Past

Some of the past models made at the plant included: *

Dodge Polara The Dodge Polara is an automobile introduced in the United States for the 1960 model year as Dodge's top-of-the-line full-size car. After the introduction of the Dodge Custom 880 in 1962, the Polara nameplate designated a step below the full-size ...

Plymouth Fury The Plymouth Fury is a model of automobile that was produced by Plymouth from 1955 until 1989. It was introduced for the 1956 model year as a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, becoming a separate series one level above the contemporary Belved ...

Chrysler Town & Country The Chrysler Town & Country is a minivan that was manufactured and marketed by Chrysler from 1990 to the 2016 model years. The third of the Chrysler minivans introduced, the 1990 Town & Country shared its nameplate with the flagship Chrysler st ...

(station wagon) *

Dodge Omni The Dodge Omni (and the nearly identical Plymouth Horizon) is a subcompact car that was produced by Chrysler Corporation from the 1978 to 1990 model years. The first Chrysler model line produced with front-wheel drive, the Omni and Horizon were a ...

Plymouth Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether ...

(1978-1987) *

Dodge Charger (L-body) :''See also Dodge Charger for other models using this name''. The Dodge Charger (L-body) was a subcompact 3-door hatchback/ fastback built by Dodge from 1981 to 1987, and based on Chrysler's front-wheel drive L platform. A companion model ...

(1982-1987) *

Chrysler New Yorker The Chrysler New Yorker is an automobile model that was produced by Chrysler from 1940 until 1996, serving for several decades as the brand's flagship model, or as a junior sedan to the Chrysler Imperial luxury brand. A trim level named the "Ne ...

(1988-1993) *

Dodge Dynasty The Dodge Dynasty is a mid-size four-door sedan that was marketed by the Dodge division of Chrysler Corporation from the 1988 to 1993 model years. Serving as the direct successor of the Dodge 600 sedan, the Dynasty was slotted between the Dod ...

(1988-1993) *

Chrysler Imperial The Chrysler Imperial, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler's top-of-the-line vehicle for much of its history. Models were produced with the Chrysler name until 1954, after which it became a standalone brand; and again from 1990 to 1993. The compan ...

(1990-1993) *

Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue The Chrysler Fifth Avenue was a trim level/option package or model name used by Chrysler (division), Chrysler for its larger sedans from 1979 to 1993. The Fifth Avenue name was no longer used after 1993 when Chrysler introduced its new LH-platform ...

(1990-1993) *

Plymouth Neon Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

(1994-2001) *

Dodge Neon Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Ply ...

(1994-2005) *

Dodge Caliber The Dodge Caliber is a compact hatchback manufactured and marketed by Chrysler's Dodge division from model years 2007 to 2012, replacing the Dodge Neon and Chrysler PT Cruiser. Following the Caliber concept which debuted at the 2005 Geneva Mot ...

(2007-2012) *

Dodge Dart Dodge Dart is a line of automobiles marketed by Dodge from the 1959 to 1976 model years in North America, with production extended to later years in various other markets. The Dart name originally appeared on a 1956 Chrysler show car featuring ...

(2013–2016) (1965-1968) *

Jeep Compass The Jeep Compass is a compact crossover SUV introduced for the 2007 model year, and is currently in its second generation. The first generation Compass and Patriot, its rebadged variant, were among Jeep's first crossover SUVs. The second-generat ...

(2007–2016) *

Jeep Patriot The Jeep Patriot (MK74) is a front-engine five-door compact crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Jeep, having debuted with the Jeep Compass in April 2006 at the New York Auto Show for the 2007 model year. Both cars, as well as Dodge Caliber ...

(2007–2016)

References

External links

* {{Stellantis Chrysler factories Motor vehicle assembly plants in Illinois Belvidere, Illinois