One billion euros will also go to German industries. After securing the French front, driven by an eager Emmanuel Macron, Stellantis seems to want to close the German front as well, guaranteeing Germany – where it has Opel factories – the same investment.
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA
Once again, at the center of everything will be the new platform announced in recent days, STLA One, through which it promises a revival in France by building the next Peugeots on it. In Germany, it will serve as the base for the next generation of Opel Astra. The Group places great importance on STLA One, having presented it as a platform capable of reducing costs by 20% compared to current architectures.
The Astra assembly line ensures security and stability regarding the future of Opel’s main plant in Rüsselsheim on the Main, just a few kilometers from Frankfurt, which holds the record for hosting, for 102 years, the first assembly line ever started in Germany in the automotive sector. The project, the Group clarifies, adds to an investment plan in German activities worth over one billion euros invested until 2030.
FOUR OPEL MODELS BY 2030 (ONE HALF-CHINESE)
“The investment in producing the next generation Astra in Rüsselsheim underlines Stellantis’ attention to Germany and the importance of Opel,” emphasized Emanuele Cappellano, COO of Stellantis Enlarged Europe. “The C-segment, which represents about 30% of total car sales in Europe, is a fundamental component of Stellantis’ European strategy to strengthen market presence in our region, as outlined in our FaSTLAne 2030 strategic plan,” he added.
According to Opel CEO Florian Huettl, during Stellantis’ Investor Day, the German automaker plans to introduce at least four new models by 2030. Two will be the new Astra and the new Corsa, both evergreen models of the brand; the third will be a C-SUV developed in collaboration with the Chinese company Leapmotor. Meanwhile, Opel will continue to invest in models already in its portfolio.
STELLANTIS CONFIRMS PLANS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED BY MACRON
With the decision to invest one billion also in Germany, the Italian-French group quells controversies similar to those seen in France, where the presentation of the “American-centric” industrial plan had caused considerable alarm, so much so that the French president intervened unusually, Emmanuel Macron announcing the company’s commitment to invest one billion in the Hexagon, with the manufacturer caught off guard, neither confirming nor denying.
It took almost a week for Stellantis to officially announce the “extracted” will from the Élysée to invest predominantly one billion euros in the Alsace factory in Mulhouse to produce three new Peugeots starting in 2029. Half a billion will be allocated to developing the new STLA One platform unveiled a few days ago at the FaSTLAne 2030 strategic plan presentation (designed for hybrid solutions), while 400 million will be directly employed in producing the three new vehicles in the French brand’s lineup.
All remains silent, however, regarding Italian production. The only words spoken so far after the Investor Day were not positive; speaking about Mirafiori, Cappellano admitted that the target of 100,000 units might have been missed, also recalling that Stellantis has never committed to the government to reach the goal of one million vehicles produced in our country.
