Stellantis has a problem in the form of an empty factory in Ontario, Canada, and a federal government that is very unhappy about it. Concurrently, it has an opportunity in the form of a market that likes EVs and low prices. It might be able to make all of those things work together, but two levels of government are against it. New EVs Could Come To Canada CarBuzz/Valnet Publishing (Danie Botha)The big conglomerate is discussing bringing some production of Chinese-developed electric vehicles to an idled plant in Canada, Bloomberg reports. The EVs involved would come from Leapmotor, a 10-year-old electric vehicle maker in which Stellantis owns a 20% stake.Leapmotor and Stellantis already have a joint venture in Europe called Leapmotor International. It was formed to help build and distribute Leapmotor vehicles like C10 the outside of China, beginning with a factory in Poland. It is now working on a plant in Spain to supply vehicles without tariffs in the EU.In 2024, the Canadian government introduced 100% tariffs on EVs from China, in solidarity with the US. As the relationship between the US and Canada has broken down in the last year and in an effort to improve trade with China, Prime Minster Carney has agreed to allow small numbers of EVs from China tariff-free. That number starts at 49,000 annually, and would climb slowly. Much of the quota is dedicated to low-cost models.Building Leapmotor EVs in Canada could give the brand access to the Canadian market and possibly the US market, though some US politicians are calling for a complete ban of Chinese EVs. Building, though, can mean many things to an automaker. Only Assembly, Not 'Production' Stellantis The report says that the Leapmotor models built in Canada would be what are called complete knock-down (CKD) kits. If building a car is like Lego, then a CKD is building a Lego set where all the big parts are already assembled. Most of the work is done somewhere else, in this case China. Only final assembly is done locally, not manufacturing.Canada is no stranger to CKD assembly. Under a trade agreement that pre-dated NAFTA, automakers including Volvo and Peugeot have built vehicles in the country that way.Government officials have spoken out against the plan. Federal Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly told reporters that "we can’t bring cars in a kit to Canada," saying that the plant needs to support the local supply chain. Premier Ford has also spoken against the move.Brampton Assembly near Toronto, Ontario, has been building cars since 1986. Back then it was an AMC plant building Eagle Premier sedans, but things got better over the years when it started making Chrysler's LH cars, It was home to the 300, the Dodge Charger, and Challenger.But it hasn't built anything but cobwebs since late 2023. The plan was to re-tool to build the Jeep Compass, but that SUV was moved to Belvidere, Illinois, instead. That angered Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian government had agreed to some big subsidies to keep Stellantis manufacturing in Canada and is now taking legal action against the company.