Stellantis has announced a temporary halt in production of the next-generation Jeep Compass, freezing activities at its assembly plant in Brampton, Ont.
In a Feb. 20 statement provided to The Epoch Times, a Stellantis spokesperson said that the company is reassessing its product strategy in North America due to the current “dynamic environment.”
“As a result, the Company is temporarily pausing work on the next generation Jeep Compass, including activities at the Brampton Assembly Plant. This does not change our previously announced investment plans for Brampton,” spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said.
The Jeep Compass, which is described as Stellantis’s most globally available model, will debut in Europe with production starting in Melfi, Italy, this year. Production of the new SUV was also previously planned for the Brampton plant later this year.
Stellantis’s $3.6 billion investment in the Brampton plant was supported by both the Ontario and federal governments. In 2022, Ontario committed $132 million to help retool and modernize the plant for electric vehicle production, with the federal government providing a matching investment.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne urged Stellantis to follow through on its agreement with Ottawa to expand operations at the Brampton plant, sharing a letter from the company outlining plans to deliver the new vehicle by June 2026.
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“In 2023, Stellantis committed to modernizing and optimizing its Brampton Plant—that was a key part of our deal,” the minister wrote in a Feb. 20 social media post, adding, “We expect Stellantis to deliver for our workers, our industry, and our communities.”
In response to Stellantis’s announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford attributed the decision to the impact of U.S. tariffs.
“Donald Trump’s tariff threats are already having an impact, creating economic uncertainty and putting projects at risk,” he wrote in a social media post on Feb. 20.
Ford, who is currently running for re-election, has called for a renewed four-year mandate that “outlives and outlasts the Trump administration.”
During a Feb. 18 press conference, Trump said he plans to levy tariffs on automobile imports “in the neighbourhood of 25 percent.” He had previously threatened tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on Canadian cars. These tariffs, which Trump indicated could be imposed as soon as April 2, are the latest in a series of tariff threats made by the U.S. president, including a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum imports.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, expressed concerns about Stellantis’s “unexpected announcement” but noted the company has reassured the union that production plans for Brampton remain intact.
“The company has reassured the union that vehicle production plans are still in place for Brampton, although the timing of this announcement raises very serious concerns for Unifor members both in the plant doing the retooling work and those on layoff,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a Feb. 20 press release.
