Modernization of the site, downsizing, use of temporary workers, link with subcontractors: Christophe Montavon, the boss of the historic Peugeot factory in Doubs has agreed to answer our questions and discuss the future. of Sochaux, “one of the emblems” of the Stellantis group, ex-PSA. INTERVIEW.
His word is rare, so his words are precious. Christophe Montavon has been running the historic factory of the Stellantis group, ex-PSA, in Sochaux, since the spring of 2021. Originally from Franc-Comtois, he was previously production manager.
Sochaux is currently in the midst of restructuring, with the launch of a new and unique assembly line, on which the 3008 and 5008 will be assembled.
It is in the heart of a workshop with brand new equipment that Christophe Montavon receives us, as part of the program Area surveys, devoted to industry and broadcast on April 7, 2022 on France 3 Bourgogne and France 3 Franche-Comté. An exclusive interview to be found here in full.
Christophe Montavon, director of the Stellantis factory in Sochaux, in the new assembly workshop for the 3008 and 5008 • © France 3 Franche-Comté
You manage the Stellantis Sochaux factory. This is Peugeot’s historic factory. Vehicles have been produced here since 1912. The site has been significantly modernized in recent months, with the Sochaux 2022 project. What is it?
You see it around us: the factory is completely transformed. We have injected more than 200 million euros to transform the site, to make it a very compact, very efficient and super flexible factory. It is a factory in which we are now able to manufacture thermal vehicles, hybrid vehicles and tomorrow electric vehicles.
Has everything that could be automated been automated?
No. To be honest, we automate only what is interesting to be automated: what makes it possible to eliminate the most painful tasks for the operators, but also what is economically profitable. There are operations that could be automated, but we do not see the point of doing so. What we have mainly automated are ergonomically very difficult tasks, and also logistical tasks.
The big workforce reductions are behind us
Christopher Montavon
Director of the Stellantis factory in Sochaux
Stellantis, the group resulting from the PSA – Fiat Chrysler merger, has 14 brands, has factories all over the world. Why bet on Sochaux? Just the weight of history?
Indeed, Sochaux is a historical factory of the group, the cradle of the Peugeot brand. It is symbolic and very strong. It is also the quality of the people who work in the factory, which has been enhanced in recent years. It is therefore not a trivial choice if we transform the Sochaux site to make it one of the emblems of Stellantis.
3008 and 5008 assembly line in Sochaux, in the heart of the historic Peugeot-PSA factory, now Stellantis • © France 3 Franche-Comté
How many employees does Stellantis Sochaux have?
We are now about 7,000 employees, including 900 temporary workers.
There were 40,000 employees at the end of the 1970s, 18,000 at the beginning of the 2000s. Does this mean that the factory of tomorrow, in France, will necessarily be a factory with ever fewer employees?
The factory of tomorrow, here we are. We have really taken a step towards the future. In fact, if we compare to the factories of 15, 20 or 30 years ago, there are far fewer people in the industry in general. It’s not unique to cars. Now, we are reaching levels – I will not say maximum staff reductions – but we are on the plateau, and the big staff reductions are behind us.
And yet, you are going to make a voluntary departure plan: in the next two years, it is 2300 voluntary departures programmed at the national level.
The departures do not concern Sochaux, it is for the whole group. So yes, we continue to have voluntary departures to accompany this decline, but this decline is much more measured than what we have done in the past.
You said that there were currently 900 temporary workers on the Sochaux site. Why so many temp workers? Why not hire them, because it’s precarious?
It’s precariousness or flexibility, we call it what we want. You have to be lucid. We are facing a market that fluctuates enormously depending on demand and hazards, such as covid-19 or the semiconductor crisis. Having a few temporary workers on site allows for this flexibility, and somehow protects all Stellantis employees.
The historic Peugeot factory, now Stellantis, in Sochaux (Doubs) • © François Weckerlé – France 3 Franche-Comté
Semiconductors are those little electronic chips that you find everywhere now. There are supply issues. Controlling your entire spare parts supply chain, is that an illusion? The world is globalized and we can’t bring everything back to France?
The world is globalized, that’s for sure. Now nothing is impossible. We learned a lot during this crisis. Within Stellantis, we have established several strategic partnerships, including one recently with Foxconn. The idea is to be able, to manufacture up to 80% of our chips as you call them, to be a little more independent and more autonomous in the future.
Does this mean that crises, like the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, teach us to depend less on foreign countries?
We always tend to say “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”. In all crises we learn. To cope with shortages. To reorganize. Find new sources. To be even more agile. Stellantis will, and we will succeed in doing so, is to come out of this crisis stronger.
We train our subcontractors with us in this race for performance
Christopher Montavon
Director of the Stellantis factory in Sochaux
We used to say: “When PSA catches a cold, the whole of Franche-Comté coughs”. Do you feel a responsibility to the hundreds of contractor companies you work with, and the thousands of jobs that depend on them?
A shared responsibility. We want to be humble: we are not going to say that we make others work, we work with others, the Region, the agglomeration, our partners, the subcontractors… Indeed, it is an industrial entity that means that what we see around us, the manufacture of cars, is possible. The success of Sochaux is also the success of the Region, of all of our subcontractors, and of the temporary work agencies that we mentioned earlier.
Some automotive suppliers are suffering and are going out of business, like the MBF foundry in Saint-Claude. Stellantis is the principal. Is economics the only criterion? Don’t you, again, have a responsibility over these jobs?
The responsibility of the group, and of Sochaux in particular, is to provide visibility for the years to come. The entire transformation of the site is precisely to be as efficient as possible. We have a goal, we are not going to hide it, it is to be the most efficient factory in Europe. This makes it possible to give visibility for 10, 15 or even 20 years to the site and its employees, and in doing so, to give visibility to a majority of subcontractors in the region. Of course, to do this, you have to be as efficient as possible, and so we drag our subcontractors with us in this race for performance, with one goal: to be as sustainable as possible, for as long as possible.
Operator on the new Stellantis assembly line in Sochaux (Doubs) • © France 3 Franche-Comté
Can you tell us today: “This Sochaux factory still has good years ahead of it”?
Great years, that’s for sure. We are at the start of a new adventure. We turn a page: we close the old system to be 100% concentrated in this new assembly workshop. We have a special place in the strategic plan presented by Mr. Tavares, Dare forward 2030, with an electrification of the range. The goal in Europe is for us to have 100% electrification. A large part will go through Sochaux, since we will manufacture the new 3008 and the new 5008, the replacements for the vehicles we make today, and which will be available in hybrid and electric versions.
Does that mean cars will be made at this site for a long time to come?
It’s a certainty. I’m not going to commit to 50 years, because I don’t have a crystal ball, but in the next 10-15 years, there is nothing to worry about for the Sochaux site.