Once the dust raised by Stellantis’ industrial plan has settled, made up of loud announcements (globally investors are around 60 billion) that seem to focus mainly on the USA, the Old Continent tries to understand what the European manufacturer has reserved for its hubs on this side of the ocean. France is particularly active, which for some time has been grumbling that with the new management it no longer has the centrality that Carlos Tavares had reserved for it.
MACRON OVERTAKES STELLANTIS
With official statements still missing, French President Emmanuel Macron moves unexpectedly, anticipating the group by saying that the manufacturer would be ready to invest one billion euros in France for next-generation cars that will be produced especially in Mulhouse.
STRATEGIC POSITION
It is a hub in the Grand Est region, roughly equidistant from Switzerland and Germany and not too far from Belgium. A position that makes it strategic. Also for this reason, in the past some journalistic rumors had speculated that it could have been eyed by Chinese manufacturers looking for a foothold for their operations in the Old Continent. The factory, dating back to the 1960s, was renovated shortly before the pandemic with 300 million in investments and in recent years has mainly produced Peugeot with some intervals represented by the DS 7 and the Citroen C4.
FRANCE STILL BELIEVES IN THE ELECTRIC CAR, BUT WHAT ABOUT STELLANTIS?
According to Le Monde, the occupant of the Élysée said that in Mulhouse Stellantis will create electric vehicles, because otherwise France risks missing the decarbonization targets it has set for 2050. The curious aspect, also reported by the French newspaper, is that Stellantis has not precisely confirmed the president’s words, limiting itself to saying it is working to guarantee a future for its historic plants.
MACRON CORNERS THE COMPANY FEARING NEW POISSY?
“We are working with our stakeholders on the future of our plants, including Mulhouse, and as soon as there are official announcements we will communicate them to you immediately,” said the car manufacturer led by CEO Antonio Filosa.
Macron’s decision to anticipate the manufacturer could therefore respond to a strategy to pin the Group to its local responsibilities, also because France still has to digest the management’s decision to stop production in Poissy – a plant near the capital, long without an apparent industrial future – to convert it into a reconditioning plant. Le Monde on that occasion wrote that the Parisian hub was not closing just because the company wanted to “save face.”
ROME AND PARIS WATCH STELLANTIS’ MOVES CLOSELY
Both in Paris and in Rome, moreover, it must not have gone unnoticed that recently, in the face of the halt in production at the Group’s historic plants formerly belonging to FCA and PSA, Stellantis has instead accelerated work in its factories in North Africa (in Morocco and Algeria) which could in the near future even take models away from those in Eastern Europe.
From here, probably, a certain nervousness in the political world and the consequent need to remind management of its French origins. It remains to be understood which models would be produced in Mulhouse: last week in the new industrial plan the group mentioned a new platform called “STLA” that will be used for compact and mid-size cars. The new Alfa Romeo Hatchback planned for 2030-2031 has already been talked about in this regard. It is possible that the electric variant will be made in France?
