Stellantis announced Thursday it’s freezing all activity at its Brampton Assembly and Retooling Plant, citing the need to reassess the company’s approach for the launch of next-generation Jeep Compass.
Due to the fluctuating conditions in the automotive industry, the company will immediately halt all operations at its Brampton Assembly Plant. In a statement, a company spokesperson clarified that the decision does not alter the company’s previously declared investment plans for Brampton.
The industrial plant is temporarily inactive and was in the middle of a $1.3 billion renovation to enable production of the Compass model in multiple versions; conventional gasoline-powered, hybrid, and all-electric.
Stellantis is shortly ceasing work on the next-generation Jeep Compass at the Assembly Plant. The next-generation Jeep Compass, the brand’s most globally accessible model, will debut in Europe this year, with production starting in Melfi, Italy. The temporary pause and market reassessment will not affect operations at the Windsor Assembly Plant, Stellantis’s head of communications-Canada, Lou Ann Gosselin said to Windsor Star.
The stellantis plant with a workforce of around 3,000 employees, has been inactive for retooling purposes since December 22, 2023. Production of the North American Compass model was originally set to commence in late 2025, with plans to increase manufacturing volumes by early months of 2026. The upcoming Compass is set to be built on the STLA medium platform will replace a previous Mexican-built version.
Unifor national president Lana Payne stated that while the company has assured the union that Brampton production plans remain intact, the declaration creates significant worry for Unifor members currently performing retooling work and those already laid off. Unifor Local 444 president James Stewart, who represents numerous Windsor Assembly employees, noted that Stellantis has informed the union to resume a three-shift operation in Brampton, with production expected to start early next year.
The Brampton facility is undergoing renovations as agreed in Unifor’s 2023 contract with Stellantis, backed by provincial and federal funding. Workers currently receive supplemental income during this downtime, but union officials are uncertain if these additional payments will continue through the extended pause.
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