{"id":508312,"date":"2026-03-01T23:32:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T23:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508312\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T23:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T23:32:58","slug":"stellantis-says-its-working-on-plans-for-brampton-expert-says-it-could-be-new-chrysler-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/508312\/","title":{"rendered":"Stellantis says it’s working on plans for Brampton. Expert says it could be new Chrysler model"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the 3,000 laid-off autoworkers at the Stellantis plant<\/a> in Brampton, Ont., their future depends on one thing: having a car to build.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before this fall, that vehicle was supposed to be the Jeep Compass. But in mid-October, the company announced it was scrapping plans to assemble the SUV in Canada. Instead, the automaker\u2019s idle facility in Belvidere, Ill., will build it \u2014 a move two industry observers who spoke with CBC view as a means of appeasing the Trump administration amid a costly trade war.<\/p>\n

Stellantis insists it\u2019s working \u201cconstructively\u201d with government officials and other stakeholders \u201con a plan for Brampton to find viable solutions that build a sustainable, long-term future for automotive manufacturing in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the decision has been met with broad condemnation north of the border<\/a> \u2014 because of both the workers it leaves in limbo and the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds the company has gotten in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at what the company’s done, they violated our contract, they violated the commitment with the provincial, federal government,\u201d said Vito Beato, president of Unifor Local 1285, which represents workers at the plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we let them get away with what’s happening in Brampton right now, it’ll just snowball to other facilities, so we can\u2019t let it happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One local expert says he feels confident Stellantis is working to replace the Compass in Brampton, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s no reason that Stellantis would want to default on its Canadian commitments,\u201d says Peter Frise, professor of mechanical and automotive engineering at the University of Windsor, which partners with the company<\/a> on research and development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStellantis has been a great employer of Canadians, especially around here in Windsor, but also in the Brampton area and elsewhere in the country,\u201d Frise said. \u201cAnd I expect they will want that to continue. How that will go is really hard to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new Chrysler crossover?<\/p>\n

So what could replace the Compass in Brampton? The company declined an interview request. \u201cWe will communicate outcomes after those discussions are completed,\u201d a spokesperson said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But outside experts have some theories. One veteran forecaster says the auto giant \u2014 which owns more than a dozen brands, including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram \u2014 could swap the Compass with a similarly sized Chrysler-branded crossover that\u2019s been in the works behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStellantis had planned an electric Chrysler model that was going to be built alongside the Jeep Compass,\u201d said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut because the transition to [electric vehicles] is slowing down and the incentives have gone away, a lot of plans are up in the air,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s still the potential that Stellantis could put [an internal combustion] engine in this vehicle and bring it to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frise said he \u201chad heard little rumours\u201d of a Chrysler crossover being built in Brampton, too.<\/p>\n

He said vehicles are built on platforms that can host a wide range of models. \u201cYou 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"APeter Frise, automotive engineering professor at the University of Windsor, speaks about Stellantis on Dec. 8, 2025. (Emma Loop\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Retooling on the Brampton plant to be able to assemble the Compass had already started, but halted abruptly in February \u2014 prompting concerns at the time<\/a> about the company\u2019s intentions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chrysler\u2019s CEO this past summer confirmed plans for a new Chrysler model, telling the Detroit Free Press<\/a> that after it announces a new Pacifica minivan, the company will reveal \u201cthe first all new product coming from Chrysler in almost 20 years, and that \u201cit\u2019ll be a crossover vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said it won\u2019t be an electric vehicle, as originally planned. \u201cThat first vehicle will launch with a hybrid [internal combustion] engine,\u201d she said, adding that they will have the ability to make a fully electric version in the future as well if customer demand changes.<\/p>\n

Fiorani said the Chrysler brand has been looking at introducing new models because it only has one at the moment: the minivans made in Windsor. Crossovers are popular among buyers, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Chrysler brand celebrates 100 years with Belle Isle jaunt:\"\"<\/p>\n

Happy birthday Chrysler! Brand celebrates 100 years with Belle Isle jaunt<\/p>\n

Chrysler marked its 100th anniversary on Wednesday by taking some historic cars out for a spin on scenic Belle Isle in Detroit. The CBC’s Michael Evans was there to check it out. <\/p>\n

\u201cChrysler has been withering on the vine there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the question of where that Chrysler vehicle will be built remains. Frise stressed that \u201cfuture product plans are very hard to nail down with the car companies\u201d because they are \u201cvery, very secretive\u201d about those plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason they ever say anything is they’re really forced to by normally a political situation, which is what happened in this case,\u201d Frise said, referring to the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to force companies to invest in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ongoing trade war will affect timing of news: expert<\/p>\n

Fiorani said he doesn\u2019t expect to see any official news from Stellantis until spring of 2026, \u201csometime after the U.S. and Canada have made amends and come up with a trade plan between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that timeline is based on the mandated review of the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)<\/a>, which must be done by July 1, 2026, as well as the expiry of Unifor\u2019s current collective agreement with Stellantis in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASam Fiorani, an auto industry analyst with AutoForecast Solutions in Pennsylvania. (Submitted by Sam Fiorani)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem right now is that investing anything in Canada irritates the Trump administration,\u201d Fiorani said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStellantis, General Motors, Ford are all in a position where they want to announce new products for Canada,\u201d he said. \u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beato, the Brampton union head, said Stellantis has told them it has \u201cbig plans for Brampton,\u201d and even invited him to their offices to see what the company has in mind \u2014 but that the plans are \u201ccontingent on tariff relief or a CUSMA deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beato said they also have a \u201ccredibility problem\u201d with Stellantis now because of the Compass decision, which the union has called<\/a> \u201can egregious violation of the company\u2019s collective agreement commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beato says it\u2019s a smart business decision to build cars there because of the existing skilled workforce and lower costs, due to the public health care system and weaker Canadian dollar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s going to affect us all if we don’t win this battle. So we got to win this battle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the 3,000 laid-off autoworkers at the Stellantis plant in Brampton, Ont., their future depends on one thing:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-508312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brampton","8":"tag-brampton","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}