The Stellantis vehicle assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., in October, 2025. The Brampton plant closed more than two years ago for retooling.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has rejected Stellantis NV’s STLA-N plan to assemble electric cars at the automaker’s idled factory near Toronto with kits shipped from China.
The automaker proposed assembling the cars made by its partly owned partner Leapmotor in China, the Unifor union says, as the automaker seeks a way to fulfill its public funding agreement of the Brampton plant, which was retooled with millions of taxpayers’ dollars.
News of the plan on Wednesday was met by opposition from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Unifor, which represents 3,000 laid-off Brampton workers. They say the process of assembling cars from so-called knock-down kits requires few jobs and contributes nothing to the local parts supplier base.
Ms. Joly, speaking to reporters in Vancouver on Thursday, said production at the plant must be supported by Ontario and the union.
“We can’t bring cars in a kit to Canada,” Ms. Joly told reporters in Vancouver on Thursday. “It needs to support the local supply chain.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly in Ottawa on March 12.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
The Brampton plant closed more than two years ago for retooling. Stellantis moved planned production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois last year after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian-made cars. The government then said Stellantis was in default of its arrangement and began talks to either get its money back or ensure production returned.
Assembling cars from pre-made kits is a method used for decades by such manufacturers as Volvo in Nova Scotia and Volkswagen in Mexico, South America and elsewhere.
Chinese electric car makers, including Leapmotor, have lately used the process to fuel part of their 21-per-cent international sales expansion to Europe and Latin America and elsewhere.
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Peter Frise, professor of mechanical and automotive engineering at the University of Windsor, said the method allows China to expand overseas sales while utilizing their own factories – and lower cost structure – at a time they have excess capacity.
For Brampton, the method would mean fewer and lower-skilled jobs.
“It’s not the same as building a car here,” Prof. Frise said. “It basically means that the car is actually built somewhere else, and then it comes to the plant in a crate or container and a few finishing touches are put on it in that plant.”
Stellantis declined to comment on Thursday, referring to its Wednesday statement. “Stellantis remains focused on a strong Canadian footprint and is actively evaluating future programs for Brampton, with the objective to ensure that any investment decision is sustainable and a long-term commitment that supports workers and suppliers,” Stellantis spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin said.
More to come