BYD is Reportedly Interested in Making Buses at Idled Stellantis Brampton Plant

• The Chinese automaker reportedly inquired with the Brampton mayor about taking over the plant for bus production.

• The company is also one of a few Chinese automakers that are in the process of entering the Canadian market with electric cars.

• Stellantis still says it is looking for new products to manufacture in Brampton, but is reportedly considering selling the facility.

As the future of Stellantis’ Brampton assembly plant remains uncertain, the mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, told Bloomberg that Chinese automaker BYD inquired with him about taking over the plant about six months ago.

While many have suggested BYD should acquire the Brampton plant to make some of its electric cars for the Canadian market, it seems the company is more interested in making buses in Brampton.

Indeed, the popularity of BYD’s passenger vehicles and talk about the imminent arrival of Chinese EVs in Canada have overshadowed the work of the automaker’s commercial division, which manufactures large quantities of trucks and buses.

In fact, BYD has already produced buses in Canada, having assembled a test run of 10 electric buses in a Newmarket facility back in 2019.

Even if this project didn’t work out, BYD still seems interested in making buses in Canada, as attested by the Brampton mayor.

Manufacturing electric buses for the Canadian market in Ontario is likely more profitable than doing the same for passenger cars, as much lower production volumes are needed to break even when making commercial vehicles which carry a much larger profit margin.

This is why most Canadian EV manufacturing plans are unrealistic unless access to the American market is guaranteed, which is definitely not a given anymore due to the Trump Administration’s tariffs and trade barriers. This is even more true when it comes to Chinese manufacturers, which have been explicitly banned from selling into the country even when its vehicles are made in North America.

BYD is apparently not the only company to show interest in the idled Brampton plant, however, as the mayor claims to have also received inquiries from Leapmotor, Stellantis’ Chinese partner, and from an undisclosed Italian automaker.

Defence companies Roshel Inc, and Dominion Dynamics have also expressed interest, with the first eyeing the Brampton plant for the production of light-utility armoured vehicles and the second aiming to produce drones.

For the time being, Stellantis continues to say it is looking at ways to restart production in Brampton, which stopped back in 2023 in order to retool the plant for the arrival of the next-generation Jeep Compass, the production of which was subsequently moved to Illinois after the U.S. administration started imposing tariffs on cars made in Canada.

As long as North American free trade isn’t reinstated, Stellantis is unlikely to reopen the Brampton factory, as the Canadian market is too small to absorb the production numbers required to turn a profit.

Despite this, Unifor president Lana Payne recently said that Stellantis is considering selling the Brampton facility if it can’t find a suitable use for it, which would lead to the termination of its close to 2,200 employees, who have been receiving 70% of their salary since the plant was idled close to three years ago.

Source: Bloomberg