Stellantis is preparing to suspend operations across multiple European plants. Slow demand forces the automotive giant to curb output and recalibrate inventories.
The company confirmed temporary shutdowns in France and Italy, while reports in the French business daily Les Échos indicate similar pauses in Spain, Germany, and Poland.
At the Poissy plant, west of Paris, 2,000 workers will be placed on partial unemployment for three weeks in October. The site, the last assembly plant in the Paris region, builds the Opel Mokka and DS3.
Stellantis confirms production will be halted to better align output with “difficult market conditions in Europe” and to manage stock levels going into year-end.
Sign of worse to come?
Union leaders, however, view this wider pause with alarm. A representative of the SUD union described the announcement as “unprecedented” (for Poissy) and warned that management was accelerating a long-term closure plan. Is there any ground for a light panic?
Well, Stellantis will end Mokka production in 2028 and has not yet announced a replacement vehicle, which makes the unions nervous. Stellantis countered that maintenance work and training sessions will take place during the stoppage. According to the official line, the pause will support plant performance over the longer term.
Similar concerns are being raised in Italy. There, Stellantis is temporarily shutting down its Pomigliano plant near Naples. Production of the Fiat Panda will be halted for seven days, while assembly of the Alfa Romeo Tonale will be paused for three additional days. The company said the decision was necessary to “rebalance production” with actual demand. Again, this means sales are trailing.
Additional shutdowns
In Poland, a Stellantis spokesperson acknowledged that downtime was scheduled at the Tychy plant, although details were not disclosed. According to Les Échos, operations there will be suspended for nine days in October.
Additional plants expected to be affected include Eisenach in Germany, which will close for five days, and facilities in Zaragoza and Madrid, Spain, which face shutdowns of seven and 14 days, respectively.
The broad scope of the shutdowns underscores the headwinds Stellantis is facing. The automaker’s sales slipped 8 percent in the first half of the year to 1.2 million vehicles in Europe, reflecting a combination of sluggish consumer demand, excess capacity, and intensifying competition from Chinese brands.
Image-wise, several brands suffered from multiple recalls. One was linked to the well-known case of deadly Takata airbags, others to in-house engineered weaknesses like a faulty fuel pipe on a range of models.
These issues are in addition to the problems with the 1.2 Puretech engine. These are the burden from ex-CEO Carlos Tavares’ overstretched cost-cutting strategy.
First in hybrids
However, the sales dip has also been fueled by new commercial models, such as direct sales, which have failed to deliver so far. The question remains whether the group’s brands can recapture the lost momentum.
This explains why unions fear that what is being presented as temporary downtime could foreshadow more permanent restructuring. Not in the least do these measures reflect the ongoing crisis across the auto industry, where Chinese brands are constructing factories, while the legacy brands struggle to keep them running.
In a press release issued earlier this week, summarizing the performance of the first eight months of 2025, Stellantis maintained high hopes. At the European level, the group highlighted substantial progress in the hybrid segment (excluding PHEVs), where it now holds a market share of over 18%, and its dominance in light commercial vehicles, including electric models.
