Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Wednesday, Oct. 15.
The aggressive $13 billion plan announced late yesterday by Stellantis to reinvest in U.S. production and help protect itself from at least some U.S. tariffs activated its future product plans for the long idle plant in Belvidere, Ill. At the same time, it essentially placed the Brampton, Ontario, plant into the same limbo "product TBA" world that Belvidere has faced for the last several years.
Canadians are understandably apoplectic.
"Stellantis cannot be allowed to renege on its commitments to Canadian workers, and governments cannot stand by while our jobs are shifted to the United States," Canada's Unifor union said in a statement.
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Of course, Unifor's brethren at the UAW were thrilled.
"A year ago, Stellantis was on a fast-track to moving their U.S. operations out of the country. Their decision today proves that targeted auto tariffs can, in fact, bring back thousands of good union jobs to the U.S.," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. "Wall Street and supposed industry experts said this was impossible."
Stellantis, as it did with Belvidere, said it has a plan for Brampton.
"Canada is very important to us. We have plans for Brampton and will share them upon further discussions with the Canadian government," the automaker said in a statement.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government, Ontario and Unifor were working with Stellantis to develop measures to protect employees and to ensure new opportunities in and around Brampton, the Canadian Press reported.
Looking at it from Stellantis' point of view — and from the perspective of any automaker exposed to U.S. tariff threats — hedging production across international borders could become the new normal in this political world. When policies in one nation cause trouble, take advantage of available production capacity elsewhere.
And be prepared to move operations to your next idle Belvidere-like plant every four or five years.
The other big story today is the return of longtime automotive tech entrepreneur Scott Painter to TrueCar. He is leading a syndicate of investors in a $227 million deal designed to take the vehicle listings company private, Mark Hollmer reported. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Shares in TrueCar skyrocketed by 60 percent in midday trading to $2.37.
That's it for now. If you want to view this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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