On the occasion of the inauguration of the Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris on Monday, October 17, the general manager of Stellatis, Carlos Tavares, announced that the group would produce “shortly” 12 electric vehicles in France, against six currently. Two of them will be produced at the Peugeot site in Sochaux (Doubs).
At the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, the world motor show returns with the promise of more electricity. It was while showing the Peugeot stand to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron that Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellatis, announced the “short term” production of 12 electric vehicles in France. The new e-3008 and e-5008 SUVs will be produced in Sochaux, Carlos Tavares said.
In 2020, workers work along the production line in the workshops for the Peugeot 308, 3008, 5008 and Opel Grandland X at the Sochaux plant of the car manufacturer PSA. • © LIONEL VADAM – The Republican East / MAXPPP
The announcement of the production of electric cars in Sochaux was logical. The site already produces 1,100 cars of the 3008 and 5008 models per day, hybrid and thermal cars according to union figures. For the CGT (General Confederation of Labor) of the Sochaux site, these announcements of production of electric vehicles at the group’s historic factory are good news “if it is accompanied by the hiring of temporary workers, healthy working conditions, without unemployment due to lack of parts,” explains Jérôme Boussard, CGT representative.
The 3008 and 5008 electric SUVs (e-3008 and e-5008 respectively) will be produced at the Peugeot plant in Sochaux (Doubs). • © LIONEL VADAM – The Republican East / MAXPPP
According to the Force Ouvrière (FO) union, the production schedule for 3008 and 5008 electric vehicles in Sochaux is not yet known. “Gradually, we know that we will move towards 100% electric in manufacturing. Carlos Tavares said that he would make electric vehicles well before the 2038 deadline. In 5 to 6 years, I think that we will have made the switchover by producing more electric vehicles than thermal or hybrid ones” explains Eric Peultier, FO representative. The union is also calling for hiring: 600 to 700 temporary workers are currently working at the Sochaux plant. Eric Peultier adds : “the good news is that the production of 5008 electrics will only be done in Sochaux, and not with Rennes”.
Thanks to these two new 100% electric vehicles, the historic Sochaux plant will become the launch site for the STLA Medium platform on which Stellanis’ mid-size vehicles will be manufactured, said a press release from the group. Today, a third of the Peugeot 3008s manufactured in Sochaux are plug-in hybrid versions.
“We are in the process of giving credibility to this trajectory that we have set for ourselves, that of obtaining two million electric vehicles produced in France in 2030”
Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic
AFP
Six other electric models will be produced in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) and Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine). The Stellantis group, in which the French state is a shareholder, will also produce electric batteries in Douvrin (Pas-de-Calais). To date, only six electric vehicles are manufactured in France (electric DS3 and Opel Mokka in Poissy (Yvelines) and electric utility vehicles in Hordain (Nord)).
“Stellantis’ French sites are therefore all now electric and their production will allow the company to achieve carbon neutrality in 2038,” said the Franco-Italian-American group in a press release.
With AFP