Brampton Stellantis workers stare down uncertain future as company takes a $2.3 billion hit to start 2025

“The first half was very, very tough,” new Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said in a statement following the release of the auto giant’s financials results for the first six months of 2025.

This is an understatement for the 3,000 workers at Brampton’s Stellantis assembly plant which has been shuttered by the company since February—mainly due to the uncertainty created by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the auto sector. According to the financial results, Stellantis estimates it will lose $1.7 billion as a result of tariff costs in 2025. In the first six months of the year, the automaker’s revenue is already down 13 percent year-over-year, or $2.67 billion. 

Vito Beato, the President of Unifor Local 1285, who represents the workers at the Brampton assembly, says the recent numbers have only made his members more scared for the future of their careers. 

"(It) has definitely made our members even more concerned than they were, for sure," he said. 

Unifor Local 1285 President Vito Beato is confident Stellantis is committed to its Canadian operations.

(Muhammad Hamza/The Pointer files)

"The pause is still in effect, just like it was on February 20. So it's definitely concerning for our members, and definitely concerning all that's going on with the EV mandates, EV rebates, EV infrastructure, and EV costs, because we were retooling for the electric (Jeep) Compass.”

According to the press release announcing the financial results, Stellantis still plans to launch the new Jeep Compass in the second half of 2025. The release makes no mention of the Brampton plant, but Stellantis is contractually obligated to the production of electric Jeep Compasses in Brampton as outlined in its 2023 collective agreement with Unifor. As part of the deal, the provincial and the federal government each committed $132 million for the retooling effort underway at the plant prior to the work stoppage in February. 

Beato told The Pointer he believes Stellantis is committed to its Canadian operations, but worries the 25 percent tariffs are a serious risk for the Brampton plant.

"Our plant is in a vulnerable position right now,” Beato says. “We cannot live in a world where there are tariffs. It will negatively impact our Brampton assembly plant.”

Flavio Volpe, the President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), told CBC earlier this week that the financial losses, intertwined with tariffs, could force Stellantis to close its Brampton and Windsor Assembly plants.  

"Those two plants can't survive the tariff. The company can survive the tariff. Those plants can't. That's why it's important that we get the tariff removed."

The Pointer contacted Volpe for further comment but he did not respond.

The need for the company to make tough decisions about its assets was also raised in April by Doug Ostermann, the Chief Financial Officer of Stellantis, during a conference call with analysts. He did not mince words, saying the company would have to make tough decisions about its future, and “recalibrate its North American investments” after seeing revenue drop by 14 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same time last year. 

The effort to transition the Brampton auto assembly to manufacture the next-generation Jeep Compass has been paused since late February.

(Stellantis) 

“We have 3,000 members in that plant that have supplied good-quality cars and have given the company some very good profits,” Beato, who has worked at the plant since 1992, said. Cars have been made at the facility since 1986. “That plant has provided the company very good profits and provided our consumers with very good quality cars. So that's 3,000 workers at their brand facility and 1,000-plus workers that are affected because they're the part supplier base that supplies the plant as well."

The automaker initially assured workers that the pause would only last eight weeks, citing the need to reassess its North American production strategy for the launch of the next-generation Jeep Compass. However, the shutdown remains in place with no timeline for when operations will resume.

During a meeting between Unifor and Stellantis officials on May 2, the company informed the union that the work stoppage is indefinite and the next update will be provided in June, a deadline that passed over a month ago with no further information provided.  

The Pointer reached out to LouAnn Gosselin, the media representative for Stellantis Canada, seeking updates regarding the Brampton and Windsor assembly plants; and whether any decisions have been about when, or if, the Brampton plant will open. She did not respond.

Prior to announcing the two-month pause at the Brampton Plant, the automaker sold 32 acres of its property located at 2000 Williams Parkway. Stellantis said the decision was part of an effort to streamline operations and optimize its real estate portfolio.

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