The President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) says the Windsor Assembly Plant can't have a future with tariffs in place.
Flavio Volpe says he wasn't terribly surprised to see that Stellantis is recording a loss for the first half of this year and that the company has been struggling for a while.
On Monday, the auto giant reported preliminary estimates showing a 2.3 billion Euros (US$2.68 billion) net loss through the first half of 2025.
At the heart of the losses are U.S. tariffs and other charges. It's estimated tariffs will create an added cost of about 300 million euros.
Volpe says it's been tough for many companies - not just Stellantis - to balance out the quickly shifting market but that if the tariffs remain that the Windsor Assembly Plant could be heavily impacted.
He says this is a big punch to take for half a year of operation.
"While the company is big enough, and strong enough, and the CEO did warn 'we've got to do a lot of restructuring', its Canadian assets are not on strong ground. We need a removal of the tariffs to make sure that we continue Windsor Assembly into the next 100 years. Without it... I'm not sure."
Volpe says the Windsor Assembly Plant can't have a future with these tariffs in place.
"Any notion that 'well, some tariffs would be okay' is not okay for that plant. That plant is so tied to plants across the river, you know, doing its stampings in Warren, that so goes Windsor, so goes Detroit, and vice versa."
He says the local plant is much needed.
"It isn't just in Windsor we need Windsor Assembly and Stellantis to be secure there, the whole Canadian auto sector needs that plant. It is probably the signature plant in Canada, probably alongside Toyota and Honda's assets. It can't have a future with tariffs."
Volpe adds that every company is going to have the same type of numbers, it's just a matter of how "bad" they'll be.
In a statement to CTV News, Lana Payne, Unifor's national president, said the financial findings add to "mounting uncertainty" for the auto sector and for workers at the Windsor Assembly Plant.
Stellantis is set to release its final results for the first half of the year on July 29.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides