For the three,000 laid-off autoworkers on the Stellantis plant in Brampton, Ont., their future relies on one factor: having a automobile to construct. Earlier than this fall, that automobile was purported to be the Jeep Compass. However in mid-October, the corporate introduced it was scrapping plans to assemble the SUV in Canada. As an alternative, the automaker’s idle facility in Belvidere, Unwell., will construct it — a transfer two trade observers who spoke with CBC view as a way of appeasing the Trump administration amid a expensive commerce conflict. Stellantis insists it’s working “constructively” with authorities officers and different stakeholders “on a plan for Brampton to find viable solutions that build a sustainable, long-term future for automotive manufacturing in Canada.” Nonetheless, the choice has been met with broad condemnation north of the border — due to each the employees it leaves in limbo and the lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in taxpayer funds the corporate has gotten lately. “When you look at what the company’s done, they violated our contract, they violated the commitment with the provincial, federal government,” mentioned Vito Beato, president of Unifor Native 1285, which represents staff on the plant. “If we let them get away with what’s happening in Brampton right now, it’ll just snowball to other facilities, so we can’t let it happen,” he mentioned. One native professional says he feels assured Stellantis is working to exchange the Compass in Brampton, although. “There’s no reason that Stellantis would want to default on its Canadian commitments,” says Peter Frise, professor of mechanical and automotive engineering on the College of Windsor, which companions with the corporate on analysis and improvement. “Stellantis has been a great employer of Canadians, especially around here in Windsor, but also in the Brampton area and elsewhere in the country,” Frise mentioned. “And I expect they will want that to continue. How that will go is really hard to say.”
A brand new Chrysler crossover?
So what might substitute the Compass in Brampton? The corporate declined an interview request. “We will communicate outcomes after those discussions are completed,” a spokesperson mentioned in an announcement. However outdoors consultants have some theories. One veteran forecaster says the auto big — which owns greater than a dozen manufacturers, together with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — might swap the Compass with a equally sized Chrysler-branded crossover that’s been within the works behind the scenes. “Stellantis had planned an electric Chrysler model that was going to be built alongside the Jeep Compass,” mentioned Sam Fiorani, vp of worldwide automobile forecasting at AutoForecast Options. “But because the transition to [electric vehicles] is slowing down and the incentives have gone away, a lot of plans are up in the air,” he mentioned. “There’s still the potential that Stellantis could put [an internal combustion] engine in this vehicle and bring it to the market.” Frise mentioned he “had heard little rumours” of a Chrysler crossover being inbuilt Brampton, too. He mentioned automobiles are constructed on platforms that may host a variety of fashions. “You could do a crossover or a small SUV, or possibly even a small pickup truck on the same platform as the Jeep Compass. So that plan, that rumour is credible in my view.” Peter Frise, automotive engineering professor on the College of Windsor, speaks about Stellantis on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Emma Loop/CBC) Retooling on the Brampton plant to have the ability to assemble the Compass had already began, however halted abruptly in February — prompting considerations on the time in regards to the firm’s intentions. Chrysler’s CEO this previous summer time confirmed plans for a brand new Chrysler mannequin, telling the Detroit Free Press that after it publicizes a brand new Pacifica minivan, the corporate will reveal “the first all new product coming from Chrysler in almost 20 years, and that “it’ll be a crossover vehicle.” She additionally mentioned it received’t be an electrical automobile, as initially deliberate. “That first vehicle will launch with a hybrid [internal combustion] engine,” she mentioned, including that they’ll have the power to make a completely electrical model sooner or later as effectively if buyer demand adjustments. Fiorani mentioned the Chrysler model has been introducing new fashions as a result of it solely has one in the intervening time: the minivans made in Windsor. Crossovers are widespread amongst consumers, too. WATCH | Chrysler model celebrates 100 years with Belle Isle jaunt:
Completely happy birthday Chrysler! Model celebrates 100 years with Belle Isle jaunt
Chrysler marked its one centesimal anniversary on Wednesday by taking some historic automobiles out for a spin on scenic Belle Isle in Detroit. The CBC’s Michael Evans was there to test it out.
“Chrysler has been withering on the vine there,” he mentioned. “They have teased concept vehicles, we’ve seen crossovers, we’ve seen sedans. None of them have really reached the point where we’re planning to see it in production, although we do have a couple models that are hinted at as being built in either Windsor or Brampton.”
However the query of the place that Chrysler automobile will probably be constructed stays. Frise confused that “future product plans are very hard to nail down with the car companies” as a result of they’re “very, very secretive” about these plans.
“The only reason they ever say anything is they’re really forced to by normally a political situation, which is what happened in this case,” Frise mentioned, referring to the Trump administration’s efforts to drive firms to spend money on the U.S.
Ongoing commerce conflict will have an effect on timing of stories: professional
Fiorani mentioned he doesn’t anticipate to see any official information from Stellantis till spring of 2026, “sometime after the U.S. and Canada have made amends and come up with a trade plan between them.” He mentioned that timeline relies on the mandated evaluate of the prevailing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Settlement (CUSMA), which should be performed by July 1, 2026, in addition to the expiry of Unifor’s present collective settlement with Stellantis in September.
Sam Fiorani, an auto trade analyst with AutoForecast Options in Pennsylvania. (Submitted by Sam Fiorani)
“The problem right now is that investing anything in Canada irritates the Trump administration,” Fiorani mentioned.
“Stellantis, General Motors, Ford are all in a position where they want to announce new products for Canada,” he mentioned. “But as soon as they announce any investments in any plant in Canada, that investment should have gone to the U.S., according to the Trump administration. So making any announcement is a problem politically until they have ironed out a trade agreement.”
Beato, the Brampton union head, mentioned Stellantis has instructed them it has “big plans for Brampton,” and even invited him to their workplaces to see what the corporate has in thoughts — however that the plans are “contingent on tariff relief or a CUSMA deal.”
Beato mentioned in addition they have a “credibility problem” with Stellantis now due to the Compass determination, which the union has known as “an egregious violation of the company’s collective agreement commitments.”
“But maybe we take that opportunity to go see [Stellantis CEO] Antonio Filosa…and have a meeting with him after that to, you know, flesh things out and have an old school meeting, and get to the bottom of this and start building cars in Brampton, because we can’t be sitting idle.”
Beato says it’s a wise enterprise determination to construct automobiles there due to the prevailing expert workforce and decrease prices, as a result of public well being care system and weaker Canadian greenback.
“The community would be devastated if we don’t have our Brampton assembly plant there, so we all got to be rolling in the same direction,” he mentioned. “It’s going to affect us all if we don’t win this battle. So we got to win this battle.”
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