Will Stellantis electrify its Brampton, Ont., plant?

The highly successful Dodge muscle cars have long fueled Brampton Assembly, but its future under Stellantis likely hinges on the company’s electrification plans, say industry experts.

Doug Betts, a former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles executive who is president of J.D. Power’s automotive division, said Dodge could find new life in electrification under the company born of the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s Groupe PSA.

“If, ultimately, [Dodge makes] the transition to electrified powertrains but still [keep] the same personality, then I think there’s a great future [for the brand],” Betts said.

Automakers such as Ford and General Motors are focusing their electrification efforts on premium high-performance vehicles such as the Mustang Mach-E and the GMC Hummer. Historically, FCA lagged its competitors in vehicle electrification. The Stellantis merger gives FCA access to PSA’s electric powertrains, one of the company’s main reasons for wanting to merge with its European counterpart.

‘MAJOR WINNER’

FCA and PSA officially merged to form Stellantis on Jan. 16. Flavio Volpe, the head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, said production of electric vehicles built on PSA’s DS platform at the Brampton plant, 40 kilometres west of downtown Toronto, could make it a “major winner” under Stellantis.

Unifor has also expressed optimism about the merger, saying the PSA and FCA vehicle lineups complement each other.

“Our members in Brampton will continue serving the North American muscle-car market and will play a unique role in the new company, producing high-demand performance cars not produced anywhere else,” Unifor said in a statement to Automotive News Canada.

Ultimately, the future of Brampton Assembly, which employs about 3,500 hourly workers for two shifts, is tied to the company’s long-term plans for its North American production footprint.

“In the long run, it depends on what PSA’s intentions are for the North American market and how much of their manufacturing space do they actually need,” said Kristin Dziczek, senior vice-president at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

MUSCLE LIVES ON, BUT FOR HOW LONG?

"Stellantis would probably want to build them forever, they’re profitable,” Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, recently said on the Automotive News Canada Conversations podcast.

Fiorani called the cars “great for the company” but also said they are “not going to be a long-term play.”

“These products can stick around for a few more years. The problem is they’re not emissions friendly and they’re going to evolve with the times,” he said. “We’re looking to find the next big product for that plant. But Stellantis is going to have to step up and come up with something new, probably some sort of crossover. These are among the last sedans built in North America for U.S. and Canadian consumption.”

Of the five Detroit Three assembly plants in Canada to receive investment commitments as part of contract negotiations with Unifor, Brampton Assembly received the least: about $50 million from Stellantis over the life of a three-year deal that expires in 2023.

The other four plants — GM’s Oshawa Assembly and its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., the Stellantis minivan plant in Windsor, Ont., and Ford’s Oakville Assembly — will each have at least $1 billion pumped into them.

Most have new product mandates — Windsor will build new electrified vehicles — but Brampton will soldier on with the Dodge Charger and Challenger and the Chrysler 300 sedan. The Dodge models have been hot sellers and they’re likely to be highly profitable since the platform is about 15 years old. Thus, continuing to build the Charger and Challenger over the next few years was deemed to be a win by union leadership during the 2020 negotiations.

But what about the future? Sibling publication Automotive News has reported that redesigns of the Charger and Challenger could arrive as soon as 2024, although details are scarce.

It’s not known if Brampton would assemble the next-generation Charger and Challenger — if they’re to continue—norisit known what Stellantis plans to do with the North American brands. For Groupe PSA, a major appeal for merging with FCA was to get the Jeep and Ram brands, which sell profitable, popular crossovers and pickups in a North American market dominated by those segments.

“The crown jewel of FCA is Jeep, but you don’t have any Jeep [production] in Canada,” Dziczek said.

Fiorani said “something electrified” is likely destined for Brampton.

“But nothing has been put into the books for that plant yet,” he said.

Greg Layson contributed to this report.