Detroit automaker Stellantis has reportedly proposed manufacturing Leapmotor electric vehicles at its idled plant in Brampton, near Toronto.
The group invested €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in Leapmotor in 2023 — in a deal that gave it control over the Chinese EV maker’s international operations.
If finalized, the deal would make Leapmotor the first Chinese automaker to produce vehicles in Canada.
Bloomberg first reported the development. Both a source familiar with the matter and a union official confirmed the plan to the Canadian outlet Globe and Mail.
Unifor National President Lana Payne said Stellantis is proposing to assemble the vehicles using parts imported from China, known as knock-down kits, which would involve limited local manufacturing and few local suppliers.
Unifor is Canada’s largest private-sector union and represents over 3,000 workers from Stellantis‘ Brampton facility.
Since the 2023 deal, the Chinese automaker has grown to become one of China’s fastest-growing new energy vehicle (NEV) startups, particularly overseas, where it benefits from Stellantis‘ extended retail network.
Leapmotor sold nearly 600,000 vehicles in 2025, double its 2024 figure and four times its 2023 total.
Of those, over 67,000 units were sold overseas, according to 36Kr. The figures represent a fourfold increase year over year.
Leapmotor is targeting deliveries of 1 million vehicles in 2026.
To aid its growth overseas, the company is nearing local European production in Spain.
Stellantis and Leapmotor have also announced production plans in Brazil and Malaysia.
Stellantis Production
Earlier this year, Stellantis has added a third shift at its Windsor assembly plant, following through on a 2023 commitment to Unifor — and contradicting the broader industry’s setbacks.
The new shift added 1,700 midnight-shift workers at the assembly plant in Ontario — located on the other side of the river from Detroit.
Stellantis produces the Chrysler Pacifica and the Dodge Grand Caravan in Windsor, along with the all-new Dodge Charger lineup.
Trevor Longley, President and CEO of Stellantis Canada, said that “launching the new third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant is a proud and significant milestone for Stellantis and for our Canadian operations.”
It followed several production halts in other Stellantis plants across the country.
Brampton Plant
Stellantis cancelled plans to build the next Jeep Compass in Brampton last year, moving production to the US instead, as the tariff scenario hit.
The Brampton plant — which was previously retooled with federal funding — has been closed for more than two years.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has threatened to sue Stellantis for what she described as a violation of the funding agreement’s jobs and production requirements.
Isabella Orozco-Madison, a spokesperson for Joly, said the resolution process is ongoing and confidential.
“Any new auto investments will prioritize Canada’s supply chain, including Canadian labour and parts suppliers,” she added.
This adds to a 50% cut in its remission quota, after the Antonio Filosa-led company halted Brampton production plans last year.
Canada’s five major automakers producing vehicles domestically are GM, Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, and Honda.
USMCA rules allow them to import a set volume of US-made vehicles tariff-free.
The remission framework allows Canadian automakers to import a set number of US-assembled vehicles tariff-free, provided they maintain domestic production levels and follow through on planned investments.
LouAnn Gosselin, a Stellantis Canada spokesperson, declined to confirm the Brampton proposal to Globe and Mail, instead stating that the company is “actively evaluating future programs for Brampton.”
The automaker aims to “ensure that any investment decision is sustainable and a long-term commitment that supports workers and suppliers.”
“We are in active discussions with government officials and key stakeholders to ensure that the conditions for success are in place to support continued investment in Canada,” Gosselin added.
Domestic EV Production
The Canadian Government recently responded to an opposition request for detailed figures on EV sales, breaking down domestic production versus imports.
The request for data was submitted in early February by Conservative MP Kyle Seeback, Shadow Minister for Labour, who has been central to the party’s auto-sector plan.
According to the government data, Stellantis is the only automaker producing any electrified vehicles in Canada for domestic sale.
These include the Chrysler Pacifica — a plug-in hybrid minivan — and the Dodge Charger EV crossover, which only started production in 2024.
Despite the addition of the Dodge Charger EV in 2024, total domestic EV sales actually declined — from 1,793 units in 2023 to 1,370 in 2025.
Pacifica sales fell 62% over the same period, from 1,793 to 682 units, while the Charger contributed 678 units in its first full year.
None of the 1,370 Canadian-made EVs sold in 2025 fell below the C$50,000 affordability threshold set by the government’s own incentive programme.
While domestic EVs aren’t subject to the C$50,000 affordability cap — set in the recently unveiled Electric Vehicle Availability Program — their high price makes them less competitive in the mass-market segment.
The price threshold applies to vehicles imported from countries that have free-trade agreements with Canada. Other countries’ imports are not subject to the program at all.
Canadian EV Sales in 2025
Canada recorded roughly 1.9 million new vehicle sales in 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
ZEVs — including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) — saw a slowdown compared to 2024.
With a market share of around 14–15% in 2024, the cut in incentives last year and the shift in consumer demand led sales to wind down.
Most EVs sold in Canada are foreign-built, with key sources being the United States, Japan, South Korea and, as of recently, Italy.
South Korea remains a key affordable supplier through the Hyundai Group — which comprises Hyundai and Kia.
Italy emerged as a new source of affordable EVs, going from zero units in 2023 to 1,260 in 2024 and 2,380 in 2025 — primarily through the Stellantis-backed Fiat 500e.
Produced in Mirafiori, Turin, the model was Canada’s most affordable EV by mid-2025.
US-made affordable EVs sold in Canada dropped 62% from 18,831 units in 2023 to 7,201 in 2025, while Japanese production nearly tripled from 3,470 to 9,438 units over the same period.
Chinese EVs
Part of Ottawa’s plan for the auto sector includes a trade deal with China, allowing 49,000 vehicles to enter Canada annually with a reduced 6.1% tariff.
Ottawa has pushed Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to use the deal as leverage for Chinese EV joint ventures that would supply global markets from Canadian plants.
BYD, Chery, and Geely are all preparing to enter the Canadian market under the current quota by the year end.
Geely‘s CEO Andy An recently confirmed that the automaker intends to sell cars directly in Canada under its own name and “will look to localize production.”
BYD‘s Executive VP Stella Li also told Bloomberg the company is considering building a plant in Canada.
However, the Chinese giant insisted on fully owning and operating the facility itself, rather than entering a joint venture with local partners.
On the consumer side, Canada set out to require the first Chinese-built EVs entering the country to meet an affordability threshold price of C$35,000 ($25,300).
However, according to final regulations published in the Canada Gazette, Canada will not require it over the next 12 months.
The provision, framed by the Government as a measure to increase the availability of affordable EVs, will not take effect until the 2027 quota year.
Union Warnings
Upon learning of the deal, Unifor warned that without domestic partnership requirements, Chinese plants would offer limited job opportunities.
President Lana Payne called the deal “a self-inflicted wound to an already injured Canadian auto industry.”
Speaking to the Globe and Mail on Wednesday, Payne cautioned that the assembly proposal would not restore Canada’s auto plants to their pre-trade-war job levels.
“This is not a proposal for assembly and manufacturing,” she said. “It’s knock-down kits and it’s a huge problem.”
Many Chinese manufacturers, including Leapmotor, ship parts and partly assembled components to overseas factories for final assembly.
Payne said the approach keeps jobs in China, where the parts are made and vehicles are preassembled before being shipped overseas for kit assembly.
She called on Stellantis to live up to its commitments to the Brampton workers.
Vito Beato — the local Unifor leader who represents the Brampton workforce — said assembling vehicles from imported parts provides a fraction of the jobs a traditional assembly plant does.
“I don’t think it’s something the government should be looking at,” he said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford later echoed the union leaders’ concerns.
Ford said the federal government should not allow the potential Stellantis–Leapmotor deal to proceed, and that Ontario, where most of Canada’s auto industry is located, is looking into its options.
“It’d be pretty tough if Lana Payne said, you know, workers aren’t going back until we see Ontario-made parts, manufacturing Ontario-made vehicles,” he said.
A few months ago, when the deal was first signed, the Premier had firmly opposed the deal, warning that it would give Beijing a “foothold in the Canadian market.”
He also called Chinese EVs “spy vehicles,” a concern that has been also echoed by the Conservative Party since then.
Last month, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre presented a new auto plan, focused on a tariff-free US pact and aligning Chinese tariffs with the neighboring country.
It was rejected in the House of Commons a few weeks later.
Auto Sector Concerns
Unifor has raised concerns that both the Government and Conservative auto plans are insufficient for the industry.
Statistics Canada reports manufacturing sales fell 3% to $68.7 billion in January, with vehicle sales at their lowest since September 2021.
The Conservatives flagged — as they presented a motion for their auto pact — that “auto production in Canada has halved since the Liberals took office in 2015,” with a further 7.8% decline under Prime Minister Carney.
“Unjustified American tariffs threaten to end our auto sector,” the Conservatives stated, while noting at the same time that replacing the US market is “a dangerous illusion.
Currently, 90% of Canadian-made vehicles are sold to the US, and only 1% goes elsewhere.
