Stellantis selling stake in Ontario battery plant as part of wider EV reset

RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan explains Stellantis' recent shakeup amid CEO Carlos Tavares' exit.

Automaker Stellantis is selling its stake in an Ontario battery manufacturing plant to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution for a nominal US$100, as the automaker announced a broader reset of its electric vehicle strategy.

Under the deal, LG Energy Solution will hold full ownership of the plant in Windsor, Ont., with the acquisition of the 49 per cent stake held by Stellantis.

The battery division of the South Korean electronics giant disclosed the purchase price in a regulatory filing.

The move came as Stellantis took a roughly $36 billion (22.2 billion euro) charge related to electric vehicle investments.

Stellantis chief executive Antonio Filosa said on an analyst call Friday that the company was “dramatically” resetting its relations with suppliers, governments and other stakeholders as part of a “decisive reset” for the company.

“We are today resetting our organization,” he said.

“We are resetting our product plan and our EV supply chain, to reflect much more real customer demand and shifting regulation, following an initial overestimation of pace of adoption of electrification.”

The pullback comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has slashed regulations and generous incentives aimed at accelerating the transition to EVs.

LG Energy Solution chief executive David Kim said the company still sees growth opportunities in North America by having a key production hub in Canada.

“Full ownership of NextStar Energy will enable us to respond swiftly to the growing demand from the (electrical energy storage) market and position us to play a key role in Canada’s EV industry by securing additional North American-based customers,” Kim said in a statement.

NextStar Energy was established as a joint venture by the two companies in 2022. LG Energy Solution said in its regulatory filing that Stellantis had invested US$980 million in the plant.

NextStar Energy employs more than 1,300 people, with a long-term target of 2,500 as it grows to full production.

The Ontario and federal governments have supported the plant with billions of dollars in performance incentives.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford downplayed the implications of the Stellantis decision.

“Stellantis is making a financial decision. They’re still going to use their batteries for their vehicles. LG is gonna hold onto the 800 employees there. And I think it was a good business decision, to be frank with you,” he said.

Jennifer Cunliffe, a spokesperson for Ontario Economic Development Minister Victor Fedeli, said LG is well-positioned to take the lead on the $5-billion battery manufacturing plant, toward which the Ontario and federal government have pledged up to $15 billion in performance incentives.

“The NextStar facility will continue to produce batteries for energy storage systems and for EVs as they broaden their customer base and support long-term growth in the Windsor region,” Cunliffe said in a statement.

“As with all of our investments, Ontario has clear, and strong, guardrails in place to ensure that provincial funding is only disbursed when specific project milestones and job creation targets are met.”

The province said Fedeli spoke with Trevor Longley, president of Stellantis Canada, on Friday morning, who reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its operations and presence in Ontario.

The companies said Stellantis remains a committed customer and will continue to source battery products from NextStar Energy.

“This is a smart, strategic step that supports our customers, our Canadian operations, and our global electrification road map,” Filosa said in a statement.

The decision says less about Ontario manufacturing than it does about the automaker, said Brendan Sweeney, managing director of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing.

“This is much more about the future direction of Stellantis than it is about the automotive industry broadly,” he said.

He said it also forms part of a longer-term trend, which the Trillium Network highlighted in a report earlier this week, of U.S. automakers steadily pulling back from Canadian production while Japanese automakers have kept a steady footprint.

The commitment by LG shows further promise of alternatives to the Detroit Three, said Sweeney.

“LG is in a better position to run a battery plant than Stellantis is, so maybe this is good news.”

Other U.S. automakers have also struggled with the U-turn in American EV policy and the slower-than-expected pace of adoption. Ford Motor Co. took a US$19.5 billion charge in December and General Motors announced a US$6 billion charge in January, both related to EVs.

Sweeney said there is growing recognition that the pace set by regulators wasn’t realistic, but he said the market will continue to grow.

“Over the long term, the EV market is going to trend up. It just wasn’t ever going to trend up unnaturally to 100 per cent by 2035, as was prescribed a couple of years ago.”

On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the federal government was dropping its EV mandates in favour of stricter emissions standards for the auto sector, as well as reviving an EV rebate program.

Carney said the government will also launch consultations on how to strengthen an existing program that rewards automakers who maintain their Canadian production footprint through lower tariffs on vehicles coming in from the United States.

The plan is to expand the program into a tradable system that will give credits to those who produce and invest in Canada, and require those that don’t to buy those credits to avoid tariffs, he said.

The plans, which also include $3 billion in funding, are part of an effort to transform Canada’s auto sector into a global leader in electric vehicles.

“The future of the auto industry is increasingly electric and connected,” said Carney.

Sweeney at the Trillium Network said he was thrilled about the credit system proposed for imports.

“I love that,” he said. “Rewarding the companies that are investing here, and leveraging our market, which is the 8th largest market in the world for vehicles.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2026.

— With files from Liam Casey in Toronto

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press. With files from Liam Casey in Toronto