Doug Ford Opposes Stellantis Deal With Tesla Rival Leapmotor To Manufacture In Canada's Ontario: 'Dead Against It'

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has opposed potential agreements between Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) and China’s Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. Ltd., a company in which Stellantis owns a 20% stake, to manufacture electric vehicles in a Stellantis facility in Brampton, Ontario. ‘Dead Against It,’ Says Doug Ford Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Ford was opposed to any such deals unless the companies source parts locally, also expressing opposition to CKD or Complete Knock Down kits and SKD or Semi Knock Down kits, which illustrate that either vehicle parts arrive individually to be assembled at the facility or come with some pre-assembled components. “If they're bringing kits over made in China, all that does is undermine every single auto worker we have in Ontario,” he said, adding that he was “dead against it.” The move has also seen opposition from labor union Unifor, which represents workers at the Brampton facility, the report said. Unifor expressed concern about knockdown kits being used, which the union says would only employ some workers at the facility. Ford isn’t the only one within Canada against Chinese manufacturers, with Canada’s leader of the Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, earlier advocating for a U.S.-focused auto industry strategy, including exemptions for automakers from federal sales tax for Canadian-made vehicles. He also touted a rule that would enable companies to import vehicles of an equal Canadian dollar value from the U.S. or Mexico for every vehicle produced within the country. Trump Ambassador Decries Chinese EVs Ford’s comments come as President Donald Trump‘s ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, opposed Chinese-made EVs crossing the border to enter the U.S. He also expressed security concerns about Canada’s tariff agreement with China that would see over 49,000 EVs being brought into the country at a lower tariff rate. Trump had also criticized the deal heavily, calling it one of the worst deals of all time. He had also threatened to impose over 100% tariffs on Canada if any agreement between Ottawa and Beijing were to happen. Meanwhile, BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) has moved to register its factories based in Shenzhen and Xi’an Provinces as potential exporters to Canada, according to filings with Transport Canada, the country’s transportation regulator. BYD is also planning to establish a dedicated dealer network in the country during its first year of operation. Palantir-Stellantis Deal, Parking Tickets For Employees Stellantis also signed a new five-year deal with Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) to advance data and artificial intelligence capabilities across the automaker’s various operations. In other news, the automaker also mandated a return to office for all of its employees recently, with people driving vehicles from rivals like Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) reportedly receiving parking tickets. According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Stellantis offers poor Momentum Price Action: STLA surged 4.80% to $7.43 at market close on Wednesday, gaining 5.78% further to $7.50 during pre-market trading. Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo courtesy: rikstock / Shutterstock.com