Stellantis (STLA.US) splashes out 100 million euros to "resurrect" the Paris car assembly plant, promises no layoffs to stabilize morale.

Stellantis (STLA.US) plans to invest 100 million euros to renovate its car assembly plant in Poissy, near Paris, to maintain the operations of the factory. Stellantis said on Thursday that the Poissy plant, currently used to produce Opel Mokka and DS compact sport utility vehicles, will continue to produce cars at least until the end of 2028. After that, the plant will transition to other types of businesses, including automotive component production, recycling, and 3D printing of special vehicle series. Stellantis stated that the company has been closely collaborating with the union on this project. Xavier Chreau, Chief Human Resources and Sustainability Officer of the company, said that the project "provides security for the industrial future of the Poissy plant in the rapidly changing automotive industry." Currently employing approximately 1,925 staff, including around 1,580 permanent employees, the Poissy plant is committed to maintaining 1,000 blue-collar jobs at the facility until 2030 without any layoffs. The company had announced in November last year that it would invest 20 million euros to renovate the Poissy stamping workshop, but concerns were raised by the union at one point due to a lack of clearer planning for the future prospects of the factory possibly being completely closed down. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa is conducting a thorough evaluation of the group's manufacturing network layout as part of efforts to stabilize the business after a significant decrease in market share. Stellantis owns 12 plants in France and several production sites in other European regions, some of which have underutilized capacities. As part of an overall reform, Antonio Filosa is seeking to introduce one or more manufacturing partners in Europe to help the group reduce costs, increase factory utilization rates, and avoid politically sensitive plant closure decisions. Stellantis' Weak Performance in 2025 Stellantis announced its full-year financial results for 2025 at the end of February, reporting a net revenue of 153.508 billion euros, a 2% decrease compared to 156.878 billion euros in 2024. The decrease in revenue was mainly attributed to unfavorable effects of exchange rate fluctuations and a decline in net prices of products in the first half of 2025. Despite a slight increase in sales volume for the year, it was not enough to offset the negative impact of these factors. At the same time, the profits were even lower. In 2025, Stellantis reported a net loss of 22.332 billion euros, compared to a net profit of 5.520 billion euros in the same period in 2024. The main reason for the loss was an exceptional expense of 25.4 billion euros in 2025, resulting from deep adjustments in the group's customer-centric business strategy and cost expenditures due to changes in regulatory environment and framework. In early February, Stellantis announced major adjustments to its business, resulting in approximately 22.2 billion euros in expenses in the latter half of 2025 (excluding in adjusted operating profits), with around 6.5 billion euros cash expected to be paid within the next four years. The expenses were primarily used for product planning adjustments and electric vehicle supply chain to adapt to customer demands and regulatory changes, optimizing warranty estimation procedures, and related expenditures for personnel downsizing in the European region, among others. However, it is worth noting that the latter half of 2025 marked a significant turning point for Stellantis' performance, serving as the first complete operational half-year for the new management team after the adjustments, with all core indicators showing a significant improvement. Data shows that in the latter half of 2025, Stellantis reported a net revenue of 79.247 billion euros, a 10% increase compared to the latter half of 2024; excluding shipment volume from joint ventures, it reached 2.82 million units, an increase of 11% year-over-year, with sales growth in all regions worldwide. The North American market stood out, with a sales increase of 231,000 units in the latter half of 2025, up by 39%, becoming the core engine driving overall sales growth. This performance was due to the normalization of inventory after the region's inventory reduction plan in 2024, as well as the continued rise in local commercial momentum. Stellantis also outlined a performance recovery path for the years 2025 to 2027, with an expected mid-single-digit percentage increase in net revenue in 2026, a return to low single-digit percentage adjusted operating profit margin, an increase in industrial free cash flow year-over-year, and a continued improvement in operating conditions from the first half of the year to the latter half of the year. In the long term, the group is expected to achieve positive industrial free cash flow by 2027.