Stellantis to Double Morocco Production, Raising Concerns in French Auto Industry

By 2030, Stellantis will invest 300 million euros in the production of 400,000 units and 50,000 Citroën AMI and Opel Rocks-e micro-cars in its Kénitra (Morocco) plant as part of the strategic industrial partnership it has had with the Moroccan government since 2015. In total, 2,000 jobs will be created. In a press release, the automotive group, resulting from the merger between PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), explained that this investment aims to "support the growth plans of the Africa and Middle East region".

This announcement of doubling the production capacity of the Stellantis plant in Kenitra is already causing concern among French trade unions, reports Est Républicain. "It’s good news for the group, but it won’t bring any jobs in France," comments Force Ouvrière (Eric Peultier). For the CFDT, "this announcement is worrying" while the group "is reducing its industrial footprint in France". Deploring "the continuous decline in the workforce with up to 2,300 employees who will leave the company over the next two years as part of a Collective Contractual Termination (RCC)" and "the relocation, to Morocco and India, of research and development activities", it recalled that the Sochaux site "has lost half of its workforce in ten years" (about 6,000 permanent employees today).

Stellantis defends itself against the accusations made against it. It said it had invested more than two billion euros in its French factories over the past four years with a production capacity of one million vehicles by 2024. "We will also assemble twelve electric cars (EDITOR’S NOTE: including three in Mulhouse), produce one million electric motors in Trémery (Moselle) in 2024 and industrialize in series light commercial vehicles (Peugeot, Citroën, Opel) in hydrogen version equipped with a fuel cell in Hordain (Hauts-de-France), at a rate of 5,000 units per year from 2024," it added, also announcing that "the Sochaux site will be equipped with a new paint shop (100 million euros) by 2025".