APMA Blasts Stellantis Brampton Plant’s Proposed Sale to Armoured Vehicle Maker

Stellantis plans to sell its idled Brampton, Ont., assembly plant to Roshel, a Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer. The move has been decried as it occurred in the middle of negotiations with Canadian auto workers’ union, Unifor.

“Stellantis believes that Roshel represents a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at Brampton Assembly, preserving the site’s strategic role in Canada’s advanced manufacturing sector and helping to avoid a prolonged period of inactivity,” the automaker said in a statement to the Toronto Star.

However, both Unifor and the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association have criticized Stellantis’ decision. Shortly before the automaker revealed its planned sale of the plant, the union released a statement announcing that it had reached an “impasse” in its negotiations with the company following 10 days of talks.

The union claimed that the future of the Brampton plant and Stellantis’ unwillingness to confirm future plans for its Windsor Assembly and Etobicoke Casting Plants were central to its decision to pause negotiations on Friday. In a statement, the union said that “the persistence of the company’s proposal to close and sell the Brampton plant has hindered the bargaining process.”

The Brampton plant’s future has been a topic of heated debate since 2025, when Stellantis reversed its decision to produce the next-generation Jeep Compass at the plant, citing market conditions, including tariffs imposed by the U.S. government. That has left the plant idle since 2023, when production of the Dodge Charger and Challenger ended.

Since then, reports have emerged suggesting that Chinese automakers such as BYD were interested in the plant. However, the plant will instead be sold to Roshel, a Brampton-based company founded in 2016, which already operates a 400,000 square-foot facility in the city, as well as another plant in Shelby Township, Mich.

The company is bidding for a $4.9 billion contract with the Canadian Armed Forces and has sold vehicles to Ukraine, but has been criticized for also selling vehicles to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In June, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Daimler Truck to design, develop and produce a family of armoured vehicles for NATO.

Flavio Volpe, the head of the APMA, has criticized Stellantis’ intention to sell the Brampton plant, though, claiming that armoured vehicles could only make up a fraction of the volumes the facility previously produced.

“Stellantis trying to sell [the Brampton Assembly Plant] to Roshel in the middle of Unifor talks disrespects Canadians, suppliers & workers who are a major the reason the company still exists,” Volpe wrote on X. “Canadians bailed out Stellantis’ Chrysler 2x — 1979 & 2009 for billions. Stellantis has 2029/30 model year vehicles it can assign to Brampton.”