The UAW’s tentative deal with Stellantis sheds light on potential updates and new models in the coming years.
On Friday, the United Auto Workers laid out far more detailed highlights for its hourly and salaried members — exhibiting the fruits of six weeks of strike actions and negotiations with the world’s third-largest automaker. Hundreds of pages of documents go through finer points of the deal on which union voters will soon vote, including pay incraeses, attendance policies, healthcare benefits, moving allowances and retirement benefits. The highlighter document also lays out $19 billion in investment by the end of the 4-1/2 year contract, with the largest spends in the company’s assembly plants. The UAW goes one further, though, specifying exactly what new vehicles are coming down the pipeline and when they’ll arrive.
We reached out to Stellantis for more information, and company representatives declined to comment while the agreement is still undergoing the ratification vote. Automakers typically refrain from commenting on future product, so it’s unlikely we’ll get any more details until there’s an official statement.
One of the major highlights of the UAW deal is the fate of the company’s Belvidere, Illinois plant. Not only does the tentative contract bring that plant back into contention after it shut down earlier this year, but we know that plant will eventually build a new midsize truck. At the moment, the general consensus is that Belvidere will build a new midsize Ram Dakota or manufacture the Brazilian-market Rampage for North America. According to the documents, the UAW also outlined a $3.2 billion investment in Belvidere to launch a joint-venture battery plant in 2028, with an as-yet unnamed partner.
More news for Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator fans!
Beyond Belvidere, though, there’s plenty of action in store for the Toledo, Ohio assembly plant and its suppliers as well. The tentative UAW deal outlines a $1.5 billion in the Toledo North and South Assembly complexes, and another $270 million in the machining plant.
The upshot? If Stellantis holds to the timelines laid out in these documents, the current-generation Jeep Wrangler JL and Gladiator JT will carry on “into 2028”. In the meantime, we could see an “upgrade” version of the plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe, and the introduction of the Gladiator 4xe midsize truck in 2025.
A next-generation Wrangler, codenamed J70, will arrive by 2028, including a full battery-electric model and a range-extended EV. As part of its “Dare Forward 2030” plan, it appears Stellantis may phase out its existing range of engines, including the 3.6-liter Pentastar and 2.0-liter “GME T4” engine (also called the Hurricane I-4) by 2028. So, when the new model does arrive, it’s likely the range-extended version will pack a new gas engine than anything you can buy right now.
There are a few potential options there: The Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan will see a $770 million investment to produce the “GME – T4 EVO” engine next year. That looks like an updated version of the 2.0-liter Hurricane, though the Kokomo, Indiana plant will continue to produce the older engine until 2028. The plant will also “launch the EP6” in 2025 — which may be an updated version of a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine used by several Peugeot and Citroën vehicles.
Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer updates may be coming in 2025
The Warren Truck Plant is another site of major investment on Stellantis’ part, to the tune of $600 million over the next few years. The plant currently builds the Ram 1500 truck, as well as the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Per the UAW documents, the current-generation models will continue into 2028. However, we should see facelifted (referred to as “Mid-Cycle Action” in the agreement) in 2025, including a range-extended electric model in 2025. A fully electric version of both SUVs, built on the STLA Frame platform like the Ram 1500, should arrive by 2027. At that time, we’ll see another Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer refresh.
The Detroit Assembly Complex will see a $1.5 billion investment to support the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L, as well as the Dodge Durango. On the Durango front, the current (WD) model will continue through 2025 — so the brand will keep its SUVs going while it rolls out the new Charger, with the latter seeing both electric and gas-powered variants.
A new Dodge Durango, codenamed D6U, should emerge in 2026. That generation will still include ICE models, as well as a fully electric version.
The Grand Cherokee, for its part, will see refreshed models next year, if the time tables laid out by the UAW hold true. Both the two-row and three-row models will see a facelift, but not a generational overhaul until 2027 for the two-row, and 2028 for the Grand Cherokee L. Stellantis should roll out a next-generation Grand Cherokee (codename J6U) in 2027, including ICE and battery-electric models, like the Durango.
In supporting its internal combustion models and transitioning toward electrified models, Stellantis will invest billions more into stamping plants, parts centers and joint-venture battery plants. A further $6.2 billion will go to Kokomo, Indiana (on top of more than $600 million already going to the existing casting, engine, and transmission plants) to build another joint-venture battery factory, this time with Samsung.
