As the Stellantis car manufacturer pauses the work at its next -generation JEEP compass, including the reorganization of a plant in Canada designated to build the vehicle, industry observers say that the company is rethinking its priorities In electric vehicles, since tariffs create an uncertain environment for car manufacturers.
The assembly plant of almost four decades in Brampton, Ontario, was closed to reorganize in 2024, and the production should be resumed this year with the new compass, according to an informative sheet of the company from June 2024. Production is now now Scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026, confirmed a spokesman.
A shared Stellantis statement with CBC News said the company continues “to reassess its product strategy in North America to ensure that it is offering customers a variety of vehicles with flexible motor train options to better meet their needs.”
The Jeep Compass, a small SUV, should be built on an architecture for electric vehicles, with flexibility for other tripules, including hybrids.
“Heel drag on the name of most car manufacturers inherited to adopt electric vehicles, is beginning to add to a more crucial and painful experience for both the industry and for consumers,” said Stephen Bieda, director of society of Stoney Creek electric vehicles. , Ont., An organization that advocates in the name of EV drivers.
Bieda said that the slow transition to electric models by manufacturers has consequences for the federal government’s commitment to a mandate of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) that aims to achieve 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2035 by 2035 .
“So we begin to see car manufacturers delaying those production numbers, and the probability that they have to pay quite heavy fines in Quebec, BC and federally under the Zev mandate becomes increasingly likely,” he said.
“That is not really good for consumers, because we want more options.”
The Trump administration in the United States has created uncertainty for car manufacturers with the 25 percent tariff threat on pieces and vehicles imported to the United States from Canada and Mexico as soon as March 4. He also plans to reverse the Biden administration campaign to make the transition. From fossil transport with fuel.
The Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, said in a publication on the social networks that Stellantis promised to “modernize and optimize” his Brampton plant in 2023.
“We hope Stellantis gives our workers, our industry and our communities,” he wrote.
Union says that tariffs have a real -time impact on workers
The National President of Unifor, Lana Payne, whose union represents Stellantis workers in Canada, said the news was “a matter of serious concern.”
“Chaos and uncertainty that affect the automotive industry of North America, which is under the constant threat of tariffs and a dismantling of [electric vehicle] The regulations of the United States have real -time impacts on workers and corporate decisions, “Payne said in a statement.
However, Sam Fioreni, vice president of the Autoforecast Solutions research firm, said the pause is more likely to rethinking its priorities between gas and electrified vehicles.
Stellantis has been making strategic changes to recover from a difficult 2024 in which Carlos Tavares unexpectedly left his CEO post after his aggressive price strategy contributed to the fall in vehicle sales in the United States, the new manufacturer’s leadership Car is quickly remodeling your product plan.
In December, Stellantis advanced at the launch of a new hybrid version of the best -selling RAM truck before a fully electric version.
