Stellantis is halting production at its French plants in Sochaux, Rennes, and Mulhouse for at least one week. In two cases, this is due to EV battery shortages, as supplier ACC struggles to meet demand for its nickel-based long-range batteries.
According to Reuters, the plants in Sochaux and Rennes are temporarily halting production due to a shortage of ACC batteries. The news agency cites an official company statement. However, the pause is only indirectly related to the lack of large batteries.
Stellantis primarily wants to avoid producing too many other vehicles to “avoid building up vehicle inventory that does not match customer demand,” as the company explains. Meanwhile, demand is particularly high for long-range electric models, and customers currently face very long wait times.
One-week pause or more
The Sochaux plant in eastern France, which produces models such as the Peugeot 3008 and Peugeot 5008, is set to pause operations specifically from 23 to 30 October. Meanwhile, the Rennes factory will close from 22 to 30 October. This is where Citroën manufactures the C5 Aircross, among other models.
The previously announced production halt in Mulhouse from 15 to 30 October is said to be due to other reasons unrelated to the battery shortage.
Supplies from ACC remain a significant bottleneck for Stellantis production. ACC is a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes, and TotalEnergies, which originally planned to build three plants in France, Germany, and Italy but is now focusing on the ramp-up phase at its only cell factory in Douvrin, France. It has scrapped the other two major projects.
ACC worries
As Bloomberg reported in February, citing internal sources, operations in Douvrin have also not been smooth. At the beginning of the year, ACC was reportedly only able to equip around 1,000 cars per month with long-range batteries, far below the original target.
The joint venture is said to have subsequently brought in a team of experts from China to boost production and reduce high defect rates. Stellantis, as ACC’s anchor customer, is the main party affected by the slow scaling.
Stellantis uses the battery cells from the ACC factory in Douvrin, among other models, in electric vehicles based on the STLA Medium platform, including the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008, as well as the Opel Grandland Electric and DS N°8. For these vehicles equipped with ACC cells, Bloomberg already reported delivery delays of up to eight months in February.
Very long waits
In April, a report by the German specialized magazine Automobilwoche revealed that private customers, in particular, are facing very long waits for their long-range models. The article specifically focused on the corresponding variants of the Opel Grandland, Peugeot e-3008, and e-5008.
“Our deliveries have been pushed back to the first or second quarter of 2027,” a Stellantis dealer told the trade journal at the time. Other dealers reportedly no longer received any binding delivery dates.
The situation is particularly awkward for Stellantis brands: after all, it affects only customers willing to pay nearly €5,000 more for a larger battery with 97 kWh instead of 73 kWh capacity and the corresponding increase in range, compared to the same model with a smaller battery.
Meanwhile, ACC is said to have reduced defect rates and further stabilized production. Nevertheless, in the context of the announced plant pauses. a spokesperson at Stellantis told Reuters: “Unfortunately, we are not yet receiving enough of the batteries, despite big progress in ACC’s production.”
Demand for long-range models, particularly among fleet customers, remains high and continues to exceed current supply. Apparently, these fleet customers have priority, making the waits for individual customers even longer.
