Stellantis says no long-term business case for Brampton plant
The idled Ontario factory has sat empty since 2023, and Stellantis is in talks to sell it to armoured-vehicle maker Roshel as its Unifor contract nears expiry.
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Stellantis said there is no long-term business case for keeping open its assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario. The plant has built no vehicles since December 2023, and about 2,200 Unifor Local 1285 members remain on layoff, according to Just Auto.
Stellantis had paused retooling work for the Jeep Compass at Brampton in February 2025, then in October 2025 said Compass production would move to the United States instead, leaving the plant idle indefinitely, Just Auto reported. In August, Stellantis told Unifor it intended to open talks with another company about a possible sale, the union told Just Auto. Stellantis has since signed a preliminary agreement to sell the plant to Roshel Inc., an armoured vehicle maker bidding for a Canadian military contract worth up to C$4.9 billion, the Globe and Mail reported.
Unifor said it walked away from contract negotiations with Stellantis after learning of the Roshel talks, and on September 11 declared the talks over Brampton's future had reached an impasse, according to the Globe and Mail. The union's current agreement with Stellantis, covering about 9,000 Canadian members, expires September 20. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly are pressing Stellantis to build a new model at Brampton instead of selling it, Wealth Awesome reported, and Joly has said Ottawa will seek repayment of funds given to the company if it does not commit to new production there, Motor Illustrated reported. A Stellantis spokesperson said the company has a 100-year history in Canada and remains committed to Canadian jobs and the sector's long-term competitiveness, according to TT News.
The stance is a contrast with Stellantis' pledge to preserve all its French plants for five years and explore partnerships to raise their use. Declining to make a similar commitment to Brampton points to a company favouring its European operations and willing to exit or sell underperforming North American capacity, a bearish signal for the region even though tariff relief had been expected to help such plants recover.