Stellantis completes deal to sell Brampton factory to Roshel

Unifor cites factory uncertainty as contract talks reach impasse

Stellantis completed a deal Monday to sell its car factory in Brampton, Ontario, to Roshel, an armored-car maker. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. The Wall Street Journal’s market-data display showed Stellantis (STLA) down 0.23%.

If the sale closes as anticipated, it would end car manufacturing at the Brampton plant. The move is part of Stellantis’s effort to revamp its industrial output, with the automaker looking to the defense industry for new opportunities.

“We are driving forward our broader strategic goals, opening new opportunities for Stellantis in the defense industry, and creating a path to return the Brampton facility to productive industrial use,” Stellantis Chief Executive Antonio Filosa said. The statement identified defense-industry opportunities and a path to return the Brampton facility to productive industrial use as outcomes of the transaction.

The Brampton plant has drawn attention amid U.S.-Canada trade tensions. The transaction would transfer the Toronto-area factory to Roshel and end car manufacturing there as Stellantis shifts its industrial focus.

Unifor said the factory’s uncertain future has triggered an impasse in talks on a new collective agreement. Progress toward a new agreement remained blocked by uncertainty over the site’s future, leaving the plant’s labor position unresolved.

The completed deal is also likely to trigger a possible strike threat from Unifor. That prospect comes with the transaction awaiting closing and the collective-agreement talks still at an impasse.

Stellantis and Unifor have emphasized different aspects of the transaction. Stellantis has cited defense-industry opportunities and future productive use at Brampton. Unifor has cited the factory’s uncertain future and the impasse in contract talks.

Stellantis has completed the sale agreement, but the plant’s labor situation remains unsettled. The transaction is expected to close by year’s end and would end car manufacturing at Brampton. Stellantis says the transfer opens defense opportunities and creates a path to productive industrial use; Unifor’s possible strike threat and stalled contract talks remain the unresolved labor questions surrounding the sale.