In recent times, increasingly insistent discontent and grumblings had arisen from France regarding the fact that Stellantis under Neapolitan management, led by Antonio Filosa, was less France-centric than under Portuguese management, when the Group was headed by Carlos Tavares. These discontents and grumblings became more persistent with the company’s decision to halt all production at the Poissy plant – long in jeopardy – to convert it into a refurbishment hub.
STELLANTIS CONFIRMS THE PLANS ANNOUNCED BY MACRON
The presentation of the industrial plan had not quelled concerns across the Channel, so much so that the French president Emmanuel Macron intervened unusually, announcing the Franco-Italian Group’s commitment to invest one billion euros in the Hexagon, with the manufacturer caught off guard and neither confirming nor denying it. It took almost a week, but in the end, Stellantis officially declared the “extracted” willingness from the Élysée to invest predominantly one billion euros in the Alsatian factory in Mulhouse to produce three new Peugeots starting from 2029.
IN ALSACE, THREE PEUGEOTS ON THE STLA ONE PLATFORM
The announcement reveals the stakes. Half a billion will be allocated to the development of the new STLA One platform unveiled a few days ago during the FaSTLAne 2030 strategic plan presentation (designed for hybrid solutions), while 400 million will be directly invested in the production of the three new vehicles in the French brand’s lineup. The Group places great emphasis on the STLA One, presenting it as a platform capable of reducing costs by 20% compared to current architectures.
Stellantis highlights how the project reserved for Mulhouse, besides increasing production rates, safeguards the future of the plant and its 4,500 employees. Further reassurance also comes from the fact that the vehicles will bear the Peugeot badge, which is one of the four brands (alongside the American brands Jeep, Ram, and the Italian Fiat) on which the Group intends to focus globally, always following the guidelines laid out by the latest industrial plan unveiled in the United States.
