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A good chunk of the $5.28 billion the company spent in pre-tax net charges is related to re-aligning itself with the North American market and will benefit its Canadian operations, said AutoForecast Solutions vice-president of global vehicle forecasting Sam Fiorani.

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“Windsor and Brampton were headed in a direction that was solidly on the EV transition,” Fiorani told the Star.

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“A lot of the money being spent today is changing the direction of products in those two plants. That new direction (to more gas-powered options) will benefit both with the direction the market is now going.”

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The company saw a 25-per-cent drop in its North American sales in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year. It delivered 322,000 vehicles or 109,000 fewer cars.

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“Their product has been incorrectly laid out for the market,” Fiorani said of Stellantis’s product offerings.

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“They’re in the middle of adjusting that, so we expected losses in the second quarter. They should get better within the next couple quarters into the next year.”

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Fiorani said Stellantis’s problems are a result of it expecting a quicker transition to electric vehicles.

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It was also hampered by the tightening emission standards that forced it to stop using its popular Hemi V-8 engine in its Ram truck lineup and the Dodge and Challenger muscle cars. It also eliminated the more affordable Ram Classic pickup truck.

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With the loosening of emission standards in the U.S., Stellantis has moved to reintroduce the Hemi V-8 engine and offer more internal combustion and hybrid options along with its selection of EVs.

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“Fortunately, the company saw the shift back to ICE (internal combustion products) faster than other manufacturers and they’ve been preparing to extend those programs,” Fiorani said.

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“With the transition of some vehicles back to ICE, like the Charger and Ram trucks, the near-term future will look a lot better than the near-term past.”

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Unifor national auto council chair John D’Agnolo pointed out the damage isn’t being done just by the direct tariffs on the industry but also by the input components, like steel and aluminum, that are increasing inflationary pricing pressures.

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Stellantis CFO Doug Ostermann told reporters in a conference call Monday that with pre-tariff vehicle inventory evaporating, price increases are inevitable.

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“Profits being down doesn’t surprise me at all because of the tariffs,” said D’Agnolo, who is also the Windsor-based president of Unifor Local 200. “Tariffs are costing the companies more to build cars.

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“You can’t keep raising prices, so companies are eating some of the tariffs. They can’t keep doing that forever.