Stellantis pauses Jeep Compass builds at Ontario plant, putting EV priorities in jeopardy, experts say

As car manufacturer Stellantis pauses work on its next-generation Jeep Compass, including retooling a plant in Canada designated to build the vehicle, industry observers say the company is rethinking its priorities on electric vehicles as tariffs create an uncertain environment for automakers.

The nearly four-decade-old assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., was closed for retooling in 2024, and production was due to resume this year with the new Compass, according to a company fact sheet from June 2024. Production is now slated to start in the first quarter of 2026, a spokesperson confirmed.

A Stellantis statement shared with CBC News said the company continues “to reassess its product strategy in North America to ensure it is offering customers a range of vehicles with flexible powertrain options to best meet their needs.”

The Jeep Compass, a small SUV, was to be built on an architecture meant for electric vehicles, with flexibility for other powertrains, including hybrids.

“The heel-dragging on behalf of most of the legacy automakers to adopt electric vehicles, it’s starting to add up into a more crucial and painful experience for both industry and consumers,” said Stephen Bieda, director of the Electric Vehicle Society in Stoney Creek, Ont., an organization that advocates on behalf of EV drivers.

Bieda said the slow transition to electric models by manufacturers has consequences for the federal government’s commitment to a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate that aims to achieve 100 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2035.

“So we start seeing automakers delaying on those production numbers, and the likelihood of them having to pay pretty heavy fines in Quebec, B.C. and federally under the ZEV mandate becomes increasingly likely,” he said.

“That’s not really a good thing for consumers, because we want more choice.”

The Trump administration in the United States has created uncertainty for automakers with the threat of 25 per cent tariffs on parts and vehicles imported to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as soon as March 4. It also plans to reverse the Biden administration’s campaign to transition away from fossil fuel-powered transportation.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a social media post that Stellantis made a commitment to “modernizing and optimizing” its Brampton plant in 2023.

“We expect Stellantis to deliver for our workers, our industry, and our communities,” he wrote.

Union says tariffs having real-time impact on workers

Unifor national president Lana Payne, whose union represents Stellantis workers in Canada, said the news was “a matter of grave concern.”

“The chaos and uncertainty plaguing the North American auto industry, which is under the constant threat of tariffs and a dismantling of [electric vehicle] regulations from the United States, are having real-time impacts on workers and corporate decisions,” Payne said in a statement.

However, Sam Fiorani, vice-president at research firm AutoForecast Solutions, said the pause is more likely related to the automaker rethinking its priorities among 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 pricing strategy contributed to plummeting vehicle sales in the U.S. The automaker’s new leadership is quickly reshaping its product plan.

In December, Stellantis moved up the launch of a new hybrid version of the best-selling Ram pickup truck ahead of an all-electric version.