According to informal Canadian sources, the delay in Brampton retooling, which has reportedly been paused for up to two months as of late February, is due to a possible reshuffling of powertrains. Reportedly, executives are making sure customers would accept the Compass’ planned powertrains, and may be changing the launch order so that a gasoline-powered system comes first.
The future of the plant may be in the air regardless, due to new 25% import duties on Canadian goods coming into the United States. A Compass made in Canada could be exported to Mexico or Europe with minimal tax, but its cost would rise by 25% when shipped to the United States.
Making the Compass in the United States would bring months, at the least, of delays, since automotive plants take a long time to set up, and the available space in U.S. plants is almost certainly configured differently. It is possible that the Compass will be imported from Europe for a time, though Stellantis has not suggested this, given that it will be made there before production starts in North America, and currently Europe is not suffering the same additional taxation as Canada.
It is currently cheaper to export a car from China to the United States, than to export it from Canada or Mexico, which is likely to dramatically increase inflation in March. Given this, one could say the future of the Brampton and Windsor plants were tenuous, unless they were converted to make a wider range of cars in smaller number to serve Canada alone. For many years, Windsor produced nearly all the cars Chrysler sold in Canada, using engines made in another plant in the same complex.
President Trump signed a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada in his first term, agreeing not to impose heavy taxes on imports from those countries. In his current term, he has demanded that the Canadian government surrender the country to the United States, and described Europe as one of America’s worst enemies.
As of 9:34, the stock market had fallen from a high of 43,951 yesterday to 42,788, a relatively minor drop. Stellantis dropped by 4.4% from yesterday’s closing and is now $11.80, off its 12-month high of $29.51 but above its 12-month low of $11.73.
David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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