The global car industry is not in the rudest of health right now, and one of the companies bearing the brunt of that more than others is Stellantis. Whether it’s sluggish sales or sizeable losses due to a changing market, it’s no secret that the mega-company formed by the 2021 merger of Fiat-Chrysler and Europe’s PSA group has been struggling of late.
However, it’s not all bad news for the company, as it’s just added around 1,700 new jobs in Canada in a third shift at its assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, the first overnight shift at the factory since 2020.
‘A Real Boon to the Economy’
The overnight shift started on Monday evening, with union rep Jordyn White-Mailloux telling CBC that “everything went good.” James Stewart, the president of local union Unifor Local 444, called the extra shift “the only definitive good news in the auto industry right now,” and said it’ll provide “a real boon to the Windsor-Essex economy.”
Speaking to CBC, Stewart also said that the increase in production will bring trickle-down benefits to the wider industry, saying that his “conversations with people across the country and even across the border” all plant the new shift “in the good news category.”
Demand for Muscle Cars…
Dodge
The Windsor plant, where Stellantis and its predecessors have been building vehicles since the 1950s, currently assembles two models, one of which is the new Dodge Charger. While sales of the model got off to a slow start thanks to it debuting with a fully electric powertrain in 2024, it seems that demand is finally picking up.
That’s doubtless thanks to the fact that the Charger is now available with the new 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six ‘Sixpack’ engine too, in either standard 420 HP or 550 HP High Output guises. With demand for electric cars, especially performance-oriented ones, still weak, getting a combustion-powered Charger on sale as soon as possible was a must, and it seems to be paying dividends.
…And Minivans
Chrysler
The other car built at Windsor is the Chrysler Pacifica, continuing a long history of the group’s minivans being produced there. It may be celebrating its 10th birthday this year, and the only model currently sold under the Chrysler brand, but it remains the sales leader in a segment that looks to be undergoing something of a renaissance after being knocked off its perch by three-row SUVs as the big family transport of choice.
That the two models are in high enough demand for Stellantis to add a night shift is a much-needed bit of positivity for both the company and the wider industry. If the Charger does end up getting the Hemi that industry murmurs suggest it might, we can only assume that demand will go up even more.
