EVwire brief: Stellantis will idle two of its French car plants for about a week in late October because it can't get enough long-range EV batteries from its battery joint venture, ACC.
The Sochaux plant, home of the Peugeot 3008 and 5008, stops from October 23 to 30, and the Rennes plant, which builds the Citroën C5 Aircross, from October 22 to 30. Stellantis says fleet buyers in particular want the long-range versions faster than it can supply them, so it is trimming output instead of piling up cars customers aren't asking for.
A Stellantis spokesperson put it plainly:
Unfortunately we are not yet receiving enough of the batteries, despite big progress in ACC's production.
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ACC noted that it is delivering what Stellantis needs, noting that its September module output alone should come close to its total for all of 2025.
While we continue to ramp up, industrialization and scaling are clearly well underway, and we are meeting the commitments made to our client Stellantis, with module delivery levels aligned with their requirements.
A third Stellantis site, Mulhouse, will also pause from October 15 to 30, though the automaker maintains that the stop has nothing to do with batteries.
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Context:
ACC is owned by Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies. It once planned cell factories in France, Germany and Italy, but shelved the German and Italian projects when EV demand cooled and is now concentrating on its lone plant in Douvrin, northern France.
Scaling that site has been slow. Early this year, it could reportedly supply long-range packs for only about 1,000 cars a month, and Stellantis drivers waiting for long-range STLA Medium models such as the Peugeot E-3008, E-5008, Opel Grandland Electric and DS N°8 faced delays of up to eight months.
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