Stellantis car production in France set for 11% drop by 2028
Unions expect owner of Peugeot and Fiat brands to manufacture fewer vehicles at all its factories
Production at Stellantis’ French factories is set to drop over the next three years, as the maker of Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep vehicles suffers a sharper manufacturing slowdown than European rivals.
The number of units being produced at the company’s five assembly factories in France is predicted to fall by 11 per cent between 2025 and 2028, according to trade union estimates based on presentations by Stellantis last week.
Production reached more than 661,000 vehicles in 2025, a recovery from the low of 565,000 in 2024 when high inventories and a slowdown in demand affected the company.
But Stellantis expects that production will fall at all five assembly factories over the next three years, meaning sales would dip to less than 590,000 in 2028, according to the union figures seen by the Financial Times.
Stellantis has been hit harder than many other carmakers by a slowdown in demand in Europe.
A report by McKinsey for automotive suppliers representative group Clepa on Thursday estimated production of light vehicles in Europe would fall 6 per cent to 8.9mn between 2024 and 2028.
According to the report, European car production in 2024 was more than 30 per cent below levels in 2017, and in that time Stellantis had the steepest drop in growth of any major automobile manufacturer on the continent.
Stellantis chief executive Antonio Filosa told the FT in November: “[The overall European market] lost 3mn cars from pre-Covid to now. This is the equivalent of the capacity of 10 automaker plants. We cannot afford to lose another 3mn cars.”
Stellantis’ French output is set to be lowest at its Poissy plant in the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris. The site has been used as a car factory for various brands since 1937.
It employs 2,000 people but currently produces two models approaching the end of their lifecycle in 2028, by which point vehicle manufacturing is set to fall to 55,000, against more than 90,000 in 2025.
Stellantis last week announced an investment of €20mn in metal work and recycling at the plant, which would amount to 200 jobs.
A decision on whether to continue car production after 2028 will be taken in the first half of 2026, but “the factory will not close”, Stellantis said.
The commitment was welcomed by unions but workers’ representatives noted that jobs were at risk because no new vehicles were allocated to be produced at the site.
“It’s not a panacea. There’s no new project to make cars,” said Laurent Oechsel, representative of the CFE-CGC union, who added that unions were waiting for more details of Filosa’s strategy in the new year.
Fabrice Jamart, representative of the more hardline CGT union, added: “For me, it’s playing to the gallery, to say ‘We are doing something, we’re taking care of you, don’t worry.’ Then when the axe falls, it will be too late.”
Filosa will outline his strategy to turn Stellantis around in the new year, having taken over as chief executive in June.
He is among car bosses lobbying the European Commission to relax its planned ban on new sales of combustion engine cars in 2035.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged the European Commission to scrap the proposed ban and allow the production of hybrid vehicles beyond the deadline.
Stellantis declined to comment on its production forecasts but Filosa said of the move by Merz: “We now have a great opportunity to rethink the rules and reconcile Europe’s three key objectives: decarbonisation, industrial resilience that protects jobs and strategic autonomy, and affordability.”