For many months, workers at the Stellantis factory in Rennes had been waiting for the future of the site, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. As a birthday present, Carlos Tavares confirmed the manufacture of the next Citroën C5 Aircross from 2025 on the STLA medium basis.
On October 20, CFDT PSA Rennes expressed its dissatisfaction to management regarding the future of the historic Citroën plant. Since 2017, the Breton site has been producing Peugeot 5008 and Citroën C5 Aircross on a new assembly line completed in May 2018. In 2020, the 2,000 employees assembled 94,604 vehicles.
In 2021, the Rennes plant celebrates its 50th anniversary.
In a communication on its site, the majority union affirmed that ” discussions for the future of Rennes revolve around the replacement of the C5 Aircross (CR3) scheduled for 2025 on the EMP2 platform (e-VMP) which will allow us, among other things, to switch to electric vehicles! At this stage of the reflections and with regard to the performance of our site, we can be confident but we will be more confident when the attribution has been official “. Carlos Tavares spared the suspense but this October 26 at 10:00 a.m. he confirmed in a CSE that Rennes will produce the second generation of the Citroën C5 Aircross from 2025.
TO READ. All models produced in the Rennes plant since 1961
Laughing Rennes, crying Eisenach?
Over the weeks, the Stellantis group changes the attributions to the various factories in Europe according to its strategy and the product plan of each brand. Thus, the compact SUVs developed on the electrified STLA medium platform (or e-VMP) will be produced in Sochaux (new Peugeot 3008 and 5008) and in Rennes (future Citroën C5 Aircross). As for the second generation of the Opel Grandland, the doubt remains. The management has, in fact, closed for several months the plant in Eisenach in Germany which produces the SUV at the Blitz. The Sochaux site will take over and the tools are being moved (lasting six weeks according to the unions) to France. This decision comes on top of the decision to attach the Rüsselsheim and Eisenach factories no longer to Opel but to Stellantis. Consequently, the future of this second site is dotted, especially since Sochaux is inaugurating its new assembly line in mid-December and could ensure the manufacture of the Grandland, which it has already done in the past.
For its part, the CFDT Rennes does not hide its wish ” to obtain a complementary vehicle to the C5 Aircross so as not to end up in a single product because the risks are increased in the event of commercial failure “. Opel’s future compact SUV, which will be replaced in 2025, would be an ideal candidate alongside the C5 Aircross and would allow Rennes to increase its production capacity, which is far from maximum.
TO READ. The future Citroëns until 2025
