Stellantis is the world’s fourth-largest automaker and operates the deepest portfolio of French automotive brands. Formed by the 2021 merger of PSA Group (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel/Vauxhall) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Stellantis generates revenue exceeding €170 billion annually and employs approximately 300,000 people worldwide — with France remaining a core operational hub despite the group’s international headquarters structure. France 2030’s success in the EV sector is inseparable from Stellantis’ strategy, as the company operates several of France’s most important automotive manufacturing facilities and is the co-founder of ACC, the country’s first operating battery gigafactory.
French Manufacturing Footprint
Stellantis’ French factories form a critical part of the country’s industrial employment base:
Sochaux (Doubs): One of the oldest automotive factories in the world (opened 1912), Sochaux produces Peugeot models including the 3008 (transitioning to e-3008 electric version). The factory employs approximately 10,000 people and is central to the Franche-Comté region’s economy.
Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin): Produces the Peugeot 208 (including e-208 electric variant) and DS models. Mulhouse is one of France’s most modern automotive factories, having undergone significant technology upgrades.
Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine): Produces Citroën models including the C3 (including electric e-C3). Rennes factory has strong workforce traditions and is a major employer in Brittany.
Poissy (Yvelines): Near Paris, Poissy produces DS vehicles and certain Opel models. A historically significant Citroën plant converted to DS brand production.
Valenciennes (Nord): Manufactures the Citroën Dispatch commercial vehicle and its electric version, as well as Peugeot Expert variants.
These factories collectively employ approximately 30,000-35,000 people in France — a critical mass that makes Stellantis one of France’s largest private employers and a company whose strategic decisions have direct national policy significance.
Dare Forward 2030: The EV Commitment
Stellantis’ strategic plan, Dare Forward 2030, commits the company to:
- 100% BEV sales in Europe by 2030
- 50% BEV sales in the USA by 2030
- Carbon net zero by 2038
- €30 billion in EV and software investment through 2025
These commitments create the demand foundation that makes France 2030’s battery investment credible. Stellantis’ factories in France, Germany, and Italy need European-produced battery cells — which is why the company co-founded ACC.
However, Stellantis’ strategy has faced significant headwinds since 2023. European EV demand growth has been slower than projected. The automotive industry is dealing with cost inflation, supply chain disruption aftermath, and Chinese competitive pressure. Under CEO Carlos Tavares (until his departure in December 2024), Stellantis aggressively cut costs and delayed EV investments in response to these headwinds. The leadership transition and strategic reset under new leadership has been closely watched by France 2030 stakeholders.
ACC: Battery Sovereignty Strategy
Stellantis’ co-founding of ACC with TotalEnergies and Mercedes-Benz is the most strategically significant element of its France 2030 engagement. By establishing a joint venture rather than simply purchasing batteries from Asian suppliers, Stellantis has:
- Secured supply certainty for European production regardless of geopolitical disruptions in Asia
- Ensured alignment between battery cost evolution and its own vehicle economics
- Committed to keeping battery manufacturing jobs in Europe
- Positioned for the EU Battery Regulation’s domestic content requirements
The ACC relationship is symbiotic with France 2030: the government provided €437 million in grants to make ACC’s Billy-Berclau facility viable; Stellantis committed demand that makes ACC’s economics work; Renault’s Verkor investment is enabled by the demonstration effect that ACC’s construction provided.
French Brand Electric Models
Peugeot: The Peugeot e-208 (France’s best-selling EV in multiple years), e-308, e-3008, and e-5008 represent a complete electric lineup. The e-3008, Peugeot’s most important vehicle, has been praised by European automotive media for its design, range, and performance. All significant Peugeot EVs have French content in body and powertrain; batteries currently come from multiple suppliers.
Citroën: The ë-C3 Air Dream edition (priced around €23,300 for French market with bonus) is Citroën’s strategic play for the mainstream EV segment — a directly affordable electric car competing with the approaching wave of Chinese EVs. The ë-C3 is built at the Rennes factory with battery packs from multiple suppliers.
DS: DS operates as Stellantis’ premium French brand, competing with BMW and Audi. DS electric models (DS 3 E-Tense, DS 4 E-Tense) target the premium segment with French luxury positioning.
Opel/Vauxhall: Although German-British brands, Opel uses Stellantis’ shared platforms and some French manufacturing. The Opel Mokka-e and Corsa-e are built on the same platform as Peugeot equivalents.
Stellantis and France 2030: Tensions and Alignment
The relationship between Stellantis and France 2030 is collaborative but not without tension. The French government has at various times expressed concern about:
- Stellantis’ manufacturing decisions that prioritize lower-cost locations (Morocco, Serbia, Turkey) for some vehicle assembly
- The pace of factory electrification and the risk that French ICE workers are displaced before EV production creates replacement jobs
- Supply chain decisions that favor non-French battery suppliers over ACC
Stellantis has countered that it cannot sustain uncompetitive manufacturing locations simply for political reasons, and that French production must be economically competitive to survive long-term. This tension is healthy — it forces France 2030 to focus on making French manufacturing genuinely competitive rather than assuming government support substitutes for industrial efficiency.
Strategic Assessment
Stellantis is simultaneously France’s most important EV manufacturing partner and a company with genuinely complex interests that do not always align perfectly with French industrial policy. Its commitment to ACC, to French factory electrification, and to the Dare Forward 2030 targets provides the demand backbone that makes France’s battery investment viable.
The critical risk: if Stellantis’ overall EV strategy retreats further under competitive and financial pressure — delaying European factory EV transitions, reducing ACC cell volumes, or accelerating manufacturing migration to lower-cost countries — France 2030’s EV manufacturing bet becomes significantly more difficult to execute.
The strategic imperative: France’s competitive manufacturing environment — nuclear electricity, skilled workforce, infrastructure — must be genuinely world-class, not just government-supported, to retain Stellantis’ commitment to French production over the next decade.
Related Content
- France 2030 EV Strategy — Full sector hub
- ACC Automotive Cells — Battery JV
- Peugeot Electric — Brand-level detail
- Battery Gigafactories France — Manufacturing cluster
- EV Supply Chain — Full value chain context