Built in the Midwest: Where CDJR Models Are Assembled

"Built in the Midwest" is a nice thing to put on a website for the Midwest. It is also the kind of claim that gets sloppy fast, so here is the careful version: which of today's Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models are actually assembled in the Midwest, which are not, and what Stellantis has said about the future.

Everything below comes from Stellantis North America's published manufacturing list (dated April 2026), Stellantis press releases and the manufacturers' own model pages. Where something is a company plan rather than a fact, we say so.

The short answer

Six current models are assembled in Midwest states. The Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator come from Toledo, Ohio. The Ram 1500 comes from Sterling Heights, Michigan. The Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango come from Detroit, and the Jeep Grand Wagoneer comes from Warren, Michigan. The rest come from Ontario, Mexico or, in one case, Turkey.

Model by model

Model	Plant	Location	Midwest-assembled?
Jeep Wrangler	Toledo Assembly Complex (North plant)	Toledo, Ohio	Yes
Jeep Gladiator	Toledo Assembly Complex (South plant)	Toledo, Ohio	Yes
Ram 1500	Sterling Heights Assembly	Sterling Heights, Michigan	Yes (see note)
Jeep Grand Cherokee	Detroit Assembly Complex, Mack and Jefferson	Detroit, Michigan	Yes
Dodge Durango	Detroit Assembly Complex, Jefferson	Detroit, Michigan	Yes
Jeep Grand Wagoneer	Warren Truck Assembly	Warren, Michigan	Yes
Chrysler Pacifica	Windsor Assembly	Windsor, Ontario	No (Canada)
Dodge Charger	Windsor Assembly	Windsor, Ontario	No (Canada)
Ram 2500, 3500, Chassis Cab	Saltillo Truck Assembly	Saltillo, Mexico	No
Ram ProMaster	Saltillo Van Assembly	Saltillo, Mexico	No
Jeep Compass, Cherokee, Wagoneer S	Toluca Assembly	Toluca, Mexico	No
Jeep Recon	Toluca (per Jeep)	Toluca, Mexico	No
Ram ProMaster City	TOFAS plant	Bursa, Turkey	No

A few notes on that table.

Ram 1500. Stellantis says Sterling Heights has built the 1500 since 2018 and has built more than two million of them. Stellantis' list also shows a Saltillo, Mexico line for the Ram 1500, so check the window sticker if where it was assembled matters to you.

Grand Cherokee. Jeep's 2027 release names both Detroit Assembly Complex plants, Mack and Jefferson, as manufacturing sites. We could not find a public split showing which trim comes from which plant. Stellantis' list also shows the three-row Grand Cherokee L, still sold for 2027, at the Mack plant.

Durango. Stellantis says the Jefferson plant has built the Durango since 2010.

Grand Wagoneer. Stellantis lists Warren Truck Assembly as building the Grand Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer L. Jeep's 2027 Grand Wagoneer lineup is gas only, and the range-extended version Jeep announced earlier is not in its 2027 configurator.

Pacifica and Charger. Windsor is directly across the Detroit River from Detroit, which makes them honorary Midwest neighbors. But they are Canadian-built, and we won't pretend otherwise.

Engines, transmissions and stampings

Final assembly is only part of the story. Stellantis' list also shows a network of Midwest component plants.

• Dundee, Michigan: the Dundee Engine Plant makes the 1.6-liter turbo four and the 2.0-liter Hurricane 4 turbo, per Stellantis. The Hurricane 4 is the engine in the Grand Cherokee from Laredo Altitude up.
• Trenton, Michigan: Trenton Engine Complex is listed as building the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. (Stellantis also lists a Pentastar line in Saltillo, Mexico.)
• Kokomo, Indiana: a cluster of plants. Indiana Transmission makes six- and nine-speed transmissions, Kokomo Transmission makes eight-speed automatics, Kokomo Casting makes transmission cases and aluminum components, and the Kokomo Engine Plant is listed with the 2.0-liter GMET4 engine.
• Toledo, Ohio: Toledo Machining makes steering columns and torque converters.
• Sterling Heights and Warren, Michigan: the Sterling Stamping and Warren Stamping plants make hoods, doors, liftgates and other body parts that ship to assembly plants across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Not every engine is local. Stellantis lists the 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six and the 5.7-, 6.2- and 6.4-liter HEMI V8s as products of its Saltillo, Mexico engine plant. That means a Michigan-assembled Ram 1500 with a HEMI or Hurricane six is likely carrying a Mexican-built engine. The window sticker lists the country of origin for the engine and transmission, so you can check any specific vehicle.

Recent milestones at the Midwest plants

A few dated facts from Stellantis' own releases give a sense of what these plants are doing right now:

• Sterling Heights, July 2026. The first 2027 Ram 1500 TRX SRT trucks, rated at 777 horsepower and 680 lb-ft, began rolling off the line and heading to customers. Stellantis also noted that the plant has passed two million Ram 1500s built.
• Detroit Jefferson, July 2026. Production began on the 2026 Dodge Durango R/T 392 Launch Edition, with the 6.4-liter HEMI V8 standard on the R/T for the first time. Stellantis said Durango dealer orders for the Launch Edition sold out in six hours.
• Toledo. The Wrangler and Gladiator share a complex but not a building: the Wrangler is assembled in the North plant and the Gladiator in the South plant.
• Windsor, Ontario. Not a Midwest plant, but close enough to matter for Detroit-area workers. Stellantis said in December 2025 that it had hired more than 1,000 people toward a third shift launching in early 2026.

None of this changes how a vehicle drives. It does show where the volume is: the Detroit-area plants are busy, and they build the Midwest's most popular Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram products.

What about Illinois?

Illinois used to have a Jeep plant, and may again. The Belvidere Assembly Plant near Rockford was idled in February 2023. In October 2025, Stellantis announced plans to invest more than $600 million to reopen it to build the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass for the U.S. market, with an initial production launch then expected in 2027.

Press reports since then say the restart has slipped. We could not confirm a current official schedule, so treat any date as unsettled until Stellantis says otherwise. For now, the 2027 Cherokee and Compass are built in Toluca, Mexico.

What Stellantis says is coming

In its October 2025 announcement of a $13 billion U.S. investment, Stellantis said:

• An all-new midsize truck would be assembled in Toledo, joining the Wrangler and Gladiator, with launch timing expected in 2028.
• Warren Truck Assembly would build an all-new range-extended EV and gas large SUV beginning in 2028, with nearly $100 million to retool the plant.
• The Detroit Assembly Complex, Jefferson plant would be prepared for a next-generation Durango, with production anticipated to launch in 2029.
• Kokomo facilities would build a new four-cylinder engine, the GMET4 EVO.

Those are company targets. Product plans in this industry change, and shoppers should not buy a vehicle based on a plan.

Does "built in the Midwest" mean it's better?

Not by itself. Assembly location is a fact about where a vehicle is put together, not a measure of quality. Plenty of excellent vehicles come from Ontario and Mexico, and plenty of mediocre ones have been built in Ohio. What local assembly can do is tie into your community: jobs, suppliers and parts distribution nearby. Decide on the vehicle first and the plant second.

How to check where a specific vehicle was built

Three easy ways:

1. The window sticker (Monroney label) lists the final assembly point and the country of origin for the engine and transmission.
2. The VIN. The 11th character is a plant code, which a VIN decoder can translate.
3. Ask the dealer to read it from the build documents.

State context: Ohio and Michigan have the assembly plants, Indiana has the powertrain plants, and Illinois has the idled Belvidere site. See our guides for Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

Bottom line

If you want a vehicle assembled in the Midwest, your list is the Wrangler, Gladiator, Ram 1500, Grand Cherokee, Durango and Grand Wagoneer. Everything else comes from Canada, Mexico or Turkey. Check the sticker on the exact vehicle in front of you, because engine and transmission origins vary even when final assembly is local.