Stellantis ditches Canada for U.S., moving 5,000 jobs and $18B

The world’s fifth-largest automaker, Stellantis, announced plans to invest over CAD $18 billion to expand its operations in the United States over the next four years.

Source: Heute.at

The world’s fifth-largest automaker, Stellantis, announced plans to invest over CAD $18 billion to expand its operations in the United States over the next four years. The decision was made despite Ottawa and the Ontario government giving the company $15 billion in taxpayer subsidies.

The decision will see Ontario lose countless jobs as the company plans to move the production of its Jeep Compass from its Brampton Assembly Plant to the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.

The change in investment will see Stellantis increase its U.S. vehicle production by 50 per cent, bringing 5,000 new jobs to the American labour force.

Stellantis received billions in taxpayer subsidies from both the federal and Ontario governments dating back to 2023 “to create and secure thousands of good-paying auto jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs across Canada.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked whether he was still committed to giving Stellantis EV billions in taxpayer subsidies in Windsor, given what the company has done in Brampton.

“I’m not going to give him a penny because it was tied in to making sure Windsor and keep Brampton going. And we haven’t given them a penny for Brampton yet,” responded Ford during a press conference in Kenora on Wednesday.

“We gave him about $55 million out of the couple billion that the feds and I and the companies agreed.”

The assembly plant in Brampton has been shut down since early last year so that Stellantis could retool its layout for the Jeep Compass. However, it halted its operations in February when threats of U.S. tariffs began to circulate.

Stellantis has multiple brands under its umbrella, including Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Maserati, Ram Trucks, Alfa Romeo, and many more.

While Ford noted that Stellantis intends to move some employees from the Brampton facility to its manufacturing plant in Windsor, the company also halted the production of the electric Dodge Charger Daytona following poor sales figures in May.

Stellantis initially planned to launch the EV muscle car by the first half of this year but has since shelved the model for the time being.

A spokesperson for the company said that Stellantis has “plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government.”

However, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown called the announcement a “step backwards.”

“This announcement represents a step backward from its commitment to modernize and retool the Brampton facility — a commitment that gave its 3,000 workers and their families hope for a secure and sustainable future in auto manufacturing,” he said in a statement posted to X.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the decision was a “direct consequence of current U.S. tariffs and potential future U.S. trade actions.”

“We have further made clear that we expect Stellantis to fulfil the undertakings they have made to the workers of Brampton,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre likened the news to further proof that the ‘elbows up’ movement continues to lack results.

“Tough day for 3000 Brampton Stellantis workers who just learned that Mark Carney sold them out and let their jobs move to the U.S.,” wrote Poilievre in a social media post.

“After promising to ‘negotiate a win’ with President Trump and giving billions in handouts to the company, the elbows-down Prime Minister got no job guarantees for autoworkers. Weak leader. Broken promises. Lost jobs.”