Stellantis is “getting fairly close to being able to reveal” the models it will build at its historic Windsor, Ontario, Canada plant, just south of Detroit, according to Mark Stewart, the company’s COO for North America.
The plant currently builds the Chrysler Pacifica, the Grand Caravan for the Canadian market, and the Voyager for fleet sales. The facility, which was first built in 1928 and is operated by about 4,000 hourly workers, may soon get more work as a result of this upcoming product, Stewart suggested to Autonews Canada.
While the plant currently has two shifts, that is less work than it has historically taken on. When Stellantis announces the new product that it expects to build at the plant, it hopes to eventually add enough work to require an extra shift.
Read: Stellantis To Produce New STLA Large Platform EVs In Windsor, Canada
“We’re going to be super excited to host our union leadership to see the different models as we roll that out. And in the coming months, we’ll reveal what those are,” said Stewart. “The absolute goal is for the Windsor plant to get back on to a three-shift operation [as it had been] for many, many years.”
Although Stellantis has yet to officially announce what it plans to build at the Windsor plant, it is likely that it will be more future-proof than the minivans it currently makes there. As part of a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, the automaker previously announced that it will be building a battery plant in the Canadian city, which is in line with further announcements promising electrified vehicle production at the plants.
AutoForecast Solutions, a U.S.-based analysis firm, claims that Stellantis plans to make the next-generation, STLA electric platform-based Dodge Charger and Challenger in Windsor. That would require them to be moved from their current production base in the nearby Canadian city of Brampton.
Stellantis has confirmed that Charger and Challenger production will be stopped in Brampton in 2022, while production of the Chrysler 300 will end in 2024. After that, work will pause at the facility so that it may be retooled in order to make Jeep products, according to AutoForecast Solutions.
