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Global automaker Stellantis’ recently revealed plans to launch 11 new vehicle models in North America “produces opportunities” for those models to be built in Ontario, the head of the company’s Canadian division says.
Stellantis has two assembly plants in the country: One in Windsor, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger, and one in Brampton, which has been sitting idle since 2023. The carmaker had planned to build a Jeep model there, but announced in October that it would instead build it in the U.S. — a move that unleashed a political firestorm in Canada over the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding the company has received in recent years.
More recently, Stellantis hosted an investor day event in Michigan, where it announced a sweeping plan to revamp its global offerings as it tries to regain market share after taking steep financial hits in recent years.
“We’re exploring all options, frankly, for Brampton,” Stellantis Canada President Trevor Longley said in Windsor on Thursday. “And I think what you saw at Investor Day is that there’s a lot of new models coming for the North American brands, and so that produces opportunities for where we put those models.”
Those new models will come under the Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram brands. The 100-year-old Chrysler brand, which only offers the Pacifica currently, will get three new affordable crossover vehicles, the company said last week.
Experts previously told CBC Windsor that the Brampton plant — which Stellantis had started re-tooling to produce both electric and gas-powered vehicles before halting the work last year — could be an option for a new Chrysler crossover that had been in the works behind the scenes.
Dodge, meanwhile, is planning to introduce an “entry-level performance vehicle,” the company said, and Ram has a “muscle truck” and large SUV in the works. Jeep will also have fresh offerings.
“We announced $60 billion worth of investment throughout the Stellantis portfolio of brands,” Dodge and Chrysler CEO Matt McAlear said Thursday in response to a question about whether the Windsor or Brampton plants could get any of those products.
“But as far as specifics on timing and production facilities, we haven’t announced any of that yet,” he said. “But we’re working through that with all of our partners and we’re excited to get some great product to market.”
Both McAlear and Longley were at the Windsor plant on Thursday for a celebration marking the latest Pacifica design, which got a refresh for the 2027 model year.
Stellantis offered members of the local media a rare tour of the inner workings of the Windsor Assembly Plant, where roughly 6,000 people work to bring the Chrysler Pacifica minivans and Dodge Charger muscle cars to life. CBC Windsor’s Emma Loop reports.
The head of the union local that represents the plant’s workers says he’d like to see some of those new models land in the company’s Ontario facilities.
“There’s product coming to North America, and there’s room in our plants to make sure we can fully maximize our plants, including Brampton and Windsor,” Unifor Local 444 President James Stewart told reporters at the event. “We have capacity here.”
Stewart said the Windsor plant builds around 1,200-1,300 vehicles daily. “We used to build 1,500,” he said. “We have room for more here. The Brampton assembly plant, we don’t have a [resolution] for, and that’s important for our members.”
Unifor’s collective agreements with the Big Three automakers, including Stellantis, expire in September. “We’re going into bargaining and there’s going to be a lot of discussion not only about pattern, but how we can fully maximize our facilities under the climate we’re dealing with in terms of trade with the United States,” Stewart said.
Longley, the Stellantis Canada executive, said the company is still engaged in a formal dispute resolution process under the funding deals with the federal government over the Brampton plant.
“Our perspective is we’re working collaboratively and constructively with the federal government, the province, and obviously Unifor to find long-term, sustainable solutions for Brampton,” he said. “We’ve put multiple proposals on the table. We continue to look at all options to have a sustainable opportunity for employees in the Brampton community.”
Longley also didn’t rule out the potential for the Brampton plant to assemble Chinese electric vehicles as part of Stellantis’ partnership with Leapmotor.
He pointed to the federal government’s decision to allow some Chinese EVs into the Canadian market starting this year.
“They’re going to take a certain component of the marketplace and we need to have products that are designed to do that,” he said. “Leap is an interesting opportunity. Obviously it fits the bill for those things, whether it’s something we produce long term here in Canada or something that we import. Leap is a joint partner that we see a big future with.”
The federal industry department, which handles the funding agreements with the Stellantis, said in a statement Friday that the dispute process is ongoing and that the government “is actively engaging with the company, Unifor and the Province of Ontario with a view to secure production, protect jobs and ensure long-term investment in Canada.
“Details on the resolution process and the contribution agreement are commercially confidential,” the statement added.
