Stellantis Announces Return of Windsor Assembly Plant’s Third Shift Early Next Year

• The plant is currently running on two shifts, but the company will bring back a third one in early 2026.

• Windsor produces the Chrysler Grand Caravan and Pacifica, along with the Dodge Charger Daytona.

• Four-door and gas-powered versions of the Charger should increase demand for the factory’s products.

Despite economic uncertainty related to American tariffs on Canada and a shaky auto market in North America as a whole, Stellantis has committed to bringing back the third shift at its Windsor, Ontario assembly plant in early 2026.

Indeed, the American automaker will increase production at its Windsor factory in the first months of the next year in order to prepare for a forecasted increase in sales of the vehicles produced there.

At the moment, only the Chrysler Grand Caravan (named Voyager in the United States) and Pacifica minivans, along with the electric Dodge Charger Daytona two-door sports car are manufactured there.

The increased demand will assuredly be created by the addition of four-door and gasoline-powered variants to the Charger lineup, which will also be made in Windsor.

These models are scheduled to arrive on sale later this year and early in 2026, fitting the timeline announced for the return of the third shift.

This increase in production will also satisfy one of the commitments made by Stellantis during the 2023 Unifor negotiations.

The start of the Windsor third shift was initially scheduled for May 2025, but it was pushed back to its currently planned introduction due to the U.S. trade war.

This is a sign that the Canadian auto industry is doing better than expected and that adding local production is not as risky as it was just a few months ago.

General Motors also announced yesterday that it would keep the third shift running at its Oshawa, Ontario plant until at least January 2026, delaying hundreds of layoffs for workers that make the Chevrolet Silverado HD.

GM Extends Third Shift at Oshawa Plant, Delaying Hundreds of Layoffs

At the moment, Ford’s production facility in Oakville is being retooled to make Super Duty pickup trucks, and production is still expected to start in late 2026.

Windsor is not the only Stellantis factory in Canada, as the automaker also owns a facility in Brampton, Ontario, which currently sits idle.

Indeed, this plant that used to manufacture the previous generation of the Dodge Charger, the Challenger, and the Chrysler 300 is also being retooled, but work has been put on hold, as U.S. tariffs and changing market conditions have forced Stellantis to reassess its plans for the next Jeep Compass which will be built there.

While the company says it is still committed to bring the Compass to North America, with production in Brampton, we now expect a gasoline-powered version to come out first, followed by the electric model, unlike what the initial plans called for.

Source: Automotive News