Commitments kept! Stellantis’ industrial shift towards electrification is no longer a matter of paper promises. The car manufacturer was keen to demonstrate this on Thursday, October 3, in front of the new Minister of Industry. For his third field visit, Marc Ferracci went to the oldest automobile factory in France, in Sochaux (Doubs). He came to salute “what is being done here”, in the stronghold of Peugeot which has manufactured more than 24 million thermal vehicles since its creation in 1912 and is now moving towards electric mobility.
Since the beginning of summer, the new versions of the 3008 and 5008 SUV models, designed on a new multi-energy modular platform (capable of accommodating thermal, hybrid and electric powertrains), have been assembled in an assembly workshop modernized. The entire industrial site was reorganized in 2022 to increase efficiency and reduce costs (particularly logistics). A shoeing workshop and a battery pack preparation workshop also opened in 2023.
Enough to give a second lease of life to an emblematic industrial site which designs vehicles of the future thanks to 6,000 production and engineering employees. “This factory perfectly illustrates that not only is the industrial reconquest of our country possible, but that it is underway.», rejoiced Marc Ferracci, known to be close to Emmanuel Macron.
3 billion euros of investment
Sochaux is just one example of the massive investments made by Stellantis in recent years to update all of its French production tools and thus keep its promise to manufacture twelve electric vehicles in France in 2025. Assembly, foundry , mechanical components… it was necessary to inject a lot of money to modernize the “complicated puzzle» that the group’s factories form. “Our entire industrial system has been transformed over the past five years», explains Arnaud Deboeuf, head of manufacturing for the automobile group. “Over the past five years, Stellantis has invested nearly three billion euros in its industrial facilities in France to ensure a future for all our vehicle factories, but also for our mechanical factories..
More or less significant changes took place depending on the sites, all of whose directors had traveled to Sochaux. In Metz (Moselle), the Borny and Tremery sites have both changed. On each site, a joint venture was born to complement their traditional thermal activities. For the first, 130 million euros were invested to launch “e-Transmissions”, which manufactures electrified gearboxes, while “e-Motors” was launched for the second thanks to an investment of 288 million euros for manufacture electric motors which equip the Peugeot 3008 and 5008. In Haut-Rhin, at the heart of the Mulhouse assembly plant, 73 million euros were invested to manufacture battery packs as well as rear axles. In Charleville, in the Ardennes, 31 million euros were released to enable the foundry to cast electric motor casings which should ultimately replace the historic production of cylinder heads for thermal engines.
All French factories of the group concerned
The transmission plant in Caen (Normandy) received 11 million euros to produce transmissions for electric and hybrid vehicles while that of Valenciennes (North) was awarded 170 million euros to manufacture speed reducers. Without forgetting ACC, a joint venture between Stellantis, TotalEnergies and Mercedes-Benz, which built its first gigafactory in Douvrin (North), opposite Française de Mécanique. The factory must produce batteries for Peugeot models manufactured in Sochaux, but ramping up production is proving difficult. “We will produce between 2000 and 4000 batteries this year, which is significantly less than we hoped», concedes Yann Vincent, its manager, who estimates being able to equip between 100,000 and 150,000 cars in 2025.
All these investments and these new activities on French soil are “proof of confidence in the quality of scientific training and operators that we have in this country“, greeted Carlos Tavares. Internally, however, some employees are grumbling. For several months, union organizations have been denouncing cost reductions deemed excessive coupled with strong pressure on teams. Questioned about this, Carlos Tavares “disagrees with this» and assures that “no core business functions have been eliminated», without denying its fight against costs, considered fundamental in the current context of pressure on prices and increased competition. “If we make efforts on costs, it is to serve our customers», asserts the manager.
Carlos Tavares defends his record… before retirement in 2026?
End of career for Carlos Tavares? Traveling to the Sochaux factory on Wednesday October 3, the Portuguese manager indicated that he could retire at the end of his current mandate as general manager of Stellantis. “In 2026, the person answering you will be 68 years old, which is a reasonable age to retire. It’s an option“, he said. According to the Bloomberg news agency, Stellantis has launched the succession process internally to find a replacement for Carlos Tavares, who spent his career at Renault before joining PSA in 2014 and then leading the group’s merger with Fiat-Chrysler in 2021.
This statement comes a few days after the manufacturer lowered its financial results forecasts for the current fiscal year, against a backdrop of cyclicality in the automobile market and operational difficulties in the United States. Concretely, the manufacturer is experiencing its first crisis (the group has erased its stock market gains since its creation following the publication of its “profit warning”). “The company remains profitable, it is not in difficulty regarding its survival right away but it is a warning“, recognized Carlos Tavares, regretting “strong headwinds» but ensuring that he is able to find solutions before the end of his mandate. He also denied the hypothesis of a merger between Stellantis and Renault, “pure speculation”.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
