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My idea for a US-Canada auto plant swap [1]

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Date: 2025-03-19

This is in the category of “Completely random and indescribably nerdy brain droppings that would solve some problems and would be cool but would probably never happen. And I just wanted to write it out somewhere.” Kinda like my metric calendar/metric time thread. Though I guess this one is far more realistic. Theoretically.

This is an idea I came up with that would help with the current trade situation. It would involve GM, Ford, BMW and Mercedes swapping some auto plants in the US and Canada. And Stellantis (Chrysler) would switch a Canadian plant to another (undoubtedly more fashionable) brand than Chrysler.

Stellantis has a Chrysler plant in Brampton, Ontario. Since Chrysler is part of Stellantis, which also owns Peugot and Citroen, I wonder if someone could convince Stellantis to convert it into a Peugot and/or Citroen plant? If it makes a European brand instead of an American brand I'm sure that would make Canadians much happier. Maybe they could come up with some sort of cool new Citroen line that looks like their classic old cars and make them for both the North American and European markets. Like the one in the picture below! Or maybe they could come up with a model specifically designed for very cold weather climates. Call it the Peugeot Arctique. Maybe it could look something like the concept car above. And maybe they could make both the Citroen and the Arctique. The Arctique could also be exported to the Nordic countries, and eventually the US whenever the tariffs go away. I’m sure it would sell good in Alaska, Maine and Minnesota. Then there is GM's Oshawa assembly plant. BMW is going to be in a pickle soon with their South Carolina plant, because 70% of the output of that plant is exported and auto exports from the US are very soon going to be problematic. So I wonder if GM and BMW could swap those two plants? Likewise with Ford's Oakville assembly plant and Mercedes-Benz's Alabama plant. The Mercedes plant also exports a large percentage of its Alabama output, which again, is soon going to be a problem. So if Ford and Mercedes swapped those two plants, both companies' problems would be considerably lessened.

I would guess folks around Toronto would think it would be much cooler to have BMW, Peugot/Citroen and Mercedes plants in their metro than Chrysler, Ford and GM. Plus there’s also already a Honda plant a bit outside the Toronto metro area.

This would solve the problem of US auto plants that export the majority (or a large minority) of their output: Those would go to Canada, and the US domestic brands that sell mostly to the US market would be produced in US plants. Someday when (hopefully) the US tariffs go away, these Canadian plants could sell to the US market as well, but in the meantime their exports would largely go to Europe, Mexico and Asia.

Citroen DS revival concept car

I also think it would be cool if Quebec could get an assembly plant, would really be cool to get a French brand - maybe another Peugot/Citroen plant, or even a Renault plant. Or at least a factory making engines or transmissions for the Peugot/Citroen plant. There is a large industrial park here with some big, undeveloped parcels that would be a good spot for a large factory or two.

There is also the VW plant in Chattanooga, TN. Not sure about that one, I don’t know how much of its output is exported. Maybe they could swap it with the Stellantis (Chrysler) plant in Windsor, Ontario. Or, since that’s also a Stellantis plant, maybe they could switch it to some other Stellantis brand as well (maybe Fiat, or something), and the fate of the VW plant would be … whatever.

In this swap Ford and GM would actually get the better end of the deal because the South Carolina and Alabama plants are considerably newer than the ones around Toronto. But maybe it would be worth it for BMW and Mercedes because it would minimize their tariff issues.

I’ve no doubt the logistics of “swapping” auto plants would be enormous, and any of each plant’s suppliers located near those plants would have to move as well. But hey, I think it’s a good idea anyway.

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