According to Reuters<\/a>, Stellantis bought a 21 per cent stake in Leapmotor for $1.6 billion in 2023. The two companies also created Leapmotor International, a joint venture in which Stellantis holds a 51 per cent stake.<\/p>\n Lana Payne, president of Unifor, the union that represents thousands of laid-off Stellantis workers, confirmed Thursday that Stellantis is exploring multiple options for Brampton assembly plant, including production with Leapmotor.<\/p>\n In an interview with CBC News in Dallas, Texas, Ford said such a deal would undermine Ontario autoworkers.<\/p>\n “It’s unacceptable. It’s everything against what the federal government told the auto workers here in Ontario,” Ford said.<\/p>\n “We can’t have cheap Chinese parts and kits coming over to be assembled,” he said. “We’re dead against this.”<\/p>\n About 3,000 workers were employed at Stellantis’ Brampton plant, which was shut down for retooling in 2023 for the production of the Jeep Compass. Stellantis moved that model’s production to the U.S. last year. (Chris Young\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n According to the Bloomberg report, the talks are preliminary.<\/p>\n Production at the Brampton plant, which had about 3,000 employees, ended in late December 2023 and retooling began in January 2024 to prepare for production of the Jeep Compass.<\/p>\n After U.S. President Donald Trump started rolling out tariffs early last year, the company said it was \u201ctemporarily pausing work\u201d<\/a> at the plant. In October 2025, Stellantis said it was moving the Jeep model\u2019s production out of Ontario to a plant in Illinois.<\/a><\/p>\n Stellantis has \u201cnothing to announce\u201d at this time, said company spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n She said the company is looking to invest in a future program at the Brampton plant that is sustainable and will be a long-term commitment to support workers and suppliers.<\/p>\n \u201cStellantis remains focused on a strong Canadian footprint,\u201d Gosselin said. \u201cWe are in active discussions with government officials and key stakeholders to ensure that the conditions for success are in place to support continued investment in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘Knock-down kit plants’ could displace workers: union<\/p>\n Payne said Unifor expects the carmaker to \u201clive up to the commitment\u201d to build and support jobs at the Brampton plant.<\/p>\n There are \u201cserious concerns\u201d regarding possible partnerships with Chinese auto manufacturers to use imported parts for kit assembly overseas, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese knock-down kit plants would employ a small fraction of workers while displacing tens of thousands of direct assembly and auto parts jobs,\u201d said Payne.<\/p>\n She called on the Canadian government to create an auto policy that will support companies that build and manufacture within the country.<\/p>\n Ford said it would only be acceptable if Chinese companies manufactured cars in Ontario by coming to the province to open a plant and buying Ontario-made auto parts and having them assembled by Ontario autoworkers.<\/p>\n “We want to make sure that Stellantis understands that they need to build Ontario-made cars with Ontario workers with Ontario parts.”<\/p>\n Ford said he is in Texas in an effort to expand provincial trade. He is there with Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.<\/p>\n Canada made $529M deal with Stellantis in 2022<\/p>\n Last month, CBC News obtained<\/a> a copy of a $529-million deal made in 2022 between the Canadian government and Stellantis, which barred the carmaker from closing the Brampton plant before 2035.<\/p>\n The contract, however, made some exceptions, including circumstances beyond the automaker\u2019s \u201creasonable control\u201d that make the facility \u201ccommercially unviable.\u201d<\/p>\n A dispute resolution process was launched in November last year after the federal government found it “unacceptable” that Stellantis moved the Jeep Compass production to Belvidere, Illinois, said Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said to CBC News Wednesday.<\/p>\n That confidential process is still ongoing and the government is “actively engaging” with Stellantis, Unifor and Ontario to “secure production, protect jobs and ensure long-term investment,” she said.<\/p>\n “Any new auto investments will prioritize Canada\u2019s supply chain, including Canadian labour and parts suppliers,” said Joly.<\/p>\n![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ad992a852a1dde16b4735fe6340ce2f5.jpeg\"\/)
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