Stellantis Shifts R&D to Morocco and India, Sparking Concerns Among French Workers

Vehicle architecture, aerodynamic simulation calculations, crash simulation (passive safety), design of electronic functions and equipment, electrical/electronic validation testing, interior equipment design or physical vehicle testing (acoustics, tightness). These are the activities that Stellantis has already relocated to Morocco and India as part of its research and development strategy.

"Engineering departments are now managed based on the labor cost rate (LCC for Low Cost Countries), as R&D in Europe is considered too expensive," explains Christine Virassamy, central union delegate of the CFDT, to L’Est républicain. Colleagues from the Morocco Technical Center (MTC) are increasingly present in the development teams and connect to meetings via Skype. "On project scopes, this represents nearly 1,000 people and the trend is strongly growing. The new Citroën C3 designed in India follows the same logic," adds the manager.

She points out that in Morocco and India, the sites are equipped with modern test means, "while those of the Île-de-France sites are obsolete due to chronic underinvestment." Christine Virassamy wonders if the latter will be modernized and/or transferred to Morocco. "Our questions to management remain unanswered," she laments.

"The work provided by our Moroccan colleagues, trained by French people, is not always up to par. This is the case, for example, with the 100% electric Citroën AMI made in Kenitra. Colleagues from Vélizy often had to catch up on their mistakes, even though we have the know-how and skills here, in France," she continued.