Stellantis points to new models, investments during Windsor visit

Stellantis is celebrating its refreshed Windsor-made Chrysler Pacifica. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco has details.

Part of the Stellantis brain trust was at Windsor Assembly Plant Thursday, including the president of Stellantis’ Canadian operation, Trevor Longley.

With the third shift rolling, the workforce has grown to 6,000, which Longley acknowledged Thursday morning.

“It’s an important thing for not only us here at Stellantis, but for the country and for our economy here,” he told workers gathered to celebrate the refreshed Chrysler Pacifica. “We want to continue to make sure that we’re doing the right things to set ourselves up for the future.”

Unifor Local 444 President James Stewart was encouraged by what he heard during Longley’s address, “I was incredibly optimistic after hearing the speakers talk here today.”

Longley talked about the company’s investment in recent years amounting to around $1.9 billion to modernize the facility, “Make it ready for electrification and platform flexibility and for me, that just means that we’re preparing for the future.”

Last week, Stellantis unveiled a 5-year, $70-billion USD plan to accelerate growth and profit with more than half of that money being invested in North America.

“The North American market, Canada and U.S., are so important to the future of Stellantis and the importance to the future of the Chrysler brand and there was a couple key takeaways out of that incredible day that Chrysler is just getting started,” said Matt McAlear, CEO of Dodge and Chrysler.

Longley added. “I think what you saw in Investor Day is that there’s a lot of new models coming for the North American brands and so that produces opportunities for where we put those models.”

McAlear also told workers the company wants to introduce fresh products for the markets that are going to drive volume. “That doesn’t happen without the incredible foundation that you guys build and set forth for the Chrysler brand,” McAlear said.

And that is especially important with Canada opening up the market to Chinese vehicles.

“If those products are going to come into the marketplace, we’d like to be competitive with those products,” Longley said. “They’re going to take a certain component of the marketplace and we need to have products that are designed to do that.”

Stewart would like to see some of that investment come to Windsor, but more importantly, he’d like to see the space at the assembly plant maximized.

“That’s the way the plants stay successful, if you can fully maximize it. We started in Windsor with a third shift so if you can get to 1,500 units a day, with enough product, it doesn’t have to be one product that sells a ton. It’s an accumulation,” said Stewart, who feels there’s room in the industry to encourage offshore suppliers to boost vehicles together.

“Like we did in the past with Volkswagen Rattan. Share some technology and produce vehicles under different nameplates. I think that’s the way you’re going to fully maximize facilities anymore, in countries like Canada,” he added.

In January, the 2026 Dodge Charger, which is built in Windsor, won the North American Car of the Year.

McAlear said the car has been selling well, “We’re excited to see sales continue to grow and truly reinvent the muscle car segment like we did in the past.”

Over 16-million minivans have been sold globally. According to Longley, the 2027 Pacifica, with its updated front fascia and vertical LED headlamps, is beginning to make an appearance at dealerships.

The vehicle also has a new tech and safety package.

“I think it was still super competitive and attractive in terms of the feature set and pricing but the reality is we need to make sure that we’re making the minivan cool again,” Longley said.