Stellantis investing $3.6 billion in EV-focused assembly plants, R&D centres in Ontario

Stellantis will spend $3.6 billion to retool its two assembly plants in Ontario and build two new R&D centres in the province, the automaker said Monday.

Stellantis will retool its factories in Windsor and Brampton, converting them to what the company described in a statement as “flexible, multi-energy vehicle assembly facilities ready to produce the electric vehicles of the future.”

The company will also two build two new R&D centres in Windsor, focusing on electric vehicles and EV battery technology. 

The governments of Canada and Ontario will each give Stellantis up to $513 million toward the projects.

Stellantis, during 2020 contract negotiations with Unifor, committed to spend up to $1.5 billion to retool its Windsor factory.

Stellantis said the retooling of its Windsor Assembly Plant, which currently builds the Chrysler brand minivans, will “diversify the company’s capacity by introducing battery-electric or hybrid models to the production line to meet growing consumer demand for low-emissions vehicles."

UNKNOWN PRODUCTS

Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at U.S.-based AutoForecast Solutions, said a third model will be added to the Windsor plant in addition to its current Chrysler Pacifica and Chrysler Voyager, which is called the Grand Caravan in Canada.

Following the announcement at the Chrysler Canada Automotive Research and Development Centre in Windsor, Mark Stewart, chief operating officer FCA – North America at Stellantis, told reporters the Pacifica will continue to be produced in Windsor after the vehicle receives a scheduled overhaul in 2028.

While Stewart wouldn’t say what will be assembled alongside the minivan in Windsor, Fiorani said the new product will be a Jeep, but did not point to a specific model. 

"It’s due out in late ’25 and it will be electrified, probably hybridised and possibly electric,” Fiorani said.

Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy, who represents unionized workers in Windsor, said in a statement that “we are in the middle of the biggest revolution in the auto industry since the conception of the assembly line in 1913.”

“Ontario is well placed to play an essential role in the new motoring revolution," he said.

A similar upgrade will take place at the automaker’s Brampton Assembly Plant, which currently builds the Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger sedan. 

Stellantis said it will install a flexible assembly line capable of producing battery-electric and hybrid vehicles. The modernized plant will have an initial annual capacity of 200,000 vehicle units, the company said.

THREE SHIFTS AT BOTH PLANTS

Stewart promised Windsor that Brampton will return to a three-shift operations. They're currently running two shifts a day. He said he never once gave up on the Brampton plant, which builds mainly niche vehicles on aging platforms.

“They’ve not been on their last legs,” he said of the factory. “On an 11-year-old platform, they beat the Ford Mustang and they beat everyone in the market [last year in sales]. So, they are standing tall and they are standing proud. I’m very proud of that plant and very proud of the Dodge brand.

“It makes sense for us to allocate product to Brampton.”

He wouldn’t say if Chrysler 300 and Challenger and Charger output will stay in Brampton. It’s been reported assembly of all three vehicles is being moved to a factory in Illinois.

Unifor Local 1285 President Danny Price, who represents workers in Brampton, is relieved.

“Up until now, there’s been a black cloud over Brampton,” he said. “We’ve been lobbying hard at all levels of government, and this is just amazing. We’re going in the right direction. We want to be part of the future and this positions us perfectly.”

SUPPLIERS ‘NOW HAVE A FUTURE’

Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, is “a big fan of Brampton.”

“I’ve bought four cars built at that plant — and the most expensive ones,” he said of the Challengers assembled there. “I’ve bet on that plant.”

While he had been “very concerned” about the future of Brampton, he now is optimistic about its longevity.

“I’m so happy about the Brampton announcement. If you had asked me six months ago, or even three months ago, if I thought this would happen for Brampton, I’d have said ‘no,’” he said. 

Volpe said 12,000 people work at suppliers that feed parts to the plant.

“They now know they have a future,” Volpe said.

Fiorani has not firmed up his forecast for what vehicle will be going into Brampton. 

"This new investment does not necessarily have a product assigned to it," he said.

He said there is potential for it to be an electric van, "like [GM's] BrightDrop is doing in Ingersoll."

"If you were to move production of the van from Mexico up there, then it would give you additional room for Ram Trucks down in that region," Fiorani said.

Prabmeet Sarkaria, Conservative member of provincial parliament for Brampton South, said in a statement that “today’s investments continue to build tomorrow’s innovations.”

BATTERY HUB

Stellantis said it will modernize its Automotive Research and Development Centre in Windsor by expanding and building two "Centres of Competency."

“The Electric Vehicle and Battery Pack Testing Centres of Competency will establish Ontario as a major R&D hub for the company across all stages of production – from design to development,” Stellantis said. 

The centres also will provide “major opportunities for local talent, universities, colleges, and start-ups to participate in the development of Ontario’s EV ecosystem.”

The automaker said the hubs will be central to Stellantis’ R&D operations in North America and “serve the company’s worldwide needs for technology, process and product development.”

Stewart said Windsor will become the automaker’s EV battery research hub for all of North America and the new centres will create 650 jobs, mainly software and design engineers.

“These investments re-affirm our long-term commitment to Canada and represent an important step as we move toward zero-emission vehicles that deliver on our customers’ desire for innovative, clean, safe and affordable mobility,” Stewart added in a statement.

The announcement comes a little more than one month after the automaker and LG Energy Solution jointly committed $5.2 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.

David Kennedy of Automotive News Canada contributed to this report.

Editor's note: The Government of Ontario and Stellantis have updated the original expected investment figure to $3.6 billion. An earlier version of this story used a smaller dollar figure initially provided by the province.