Stellantis car production in France set for 11% drop by 2028, say sources

Stellantis to Reduce French Car Production by 11% by 2028

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Production at Stellantis' French factories is set to drop by 11% over the next three years, according to company estimates cited by trade unions, as part of measures by the world's fourth-largest carmaker to tackle overcapacity.

Output at the company's five assembly factories in France is forecast to fall to 587,800 units by 2028, two trade union sources told Reuters, citing estimates presented by the company last week and confirming an earlier report by the Financial Times.

Production is expected to decrease at three out of the five factories, with the Poissy plant forecast to see the sharpest decline, one of the sources said.

The source added that the forecast may shift depending on EU decisions due on December 10 that are expected to add flexibility to meeting CO2 targets in the bloc and introduce measures to support the European car industry.

Stellantis declined to comment.

Earlier this year, the French-Italian-American carmaker temporarily halted production at its Poissy and Mulhouse plants due to weak demand in Europe.

Data released earlier on Monday showed that Stellantis vehicle registrations in France fell by 5.5% in November, bringing its market share to 25.3% versus nearly 27% in the same month last year.

While the company reported a 13% rise in third-quarter revenue, it flagged one-off charges from changes to its strategic and product plans under new CEO Antonio Filosa. 

Filosa, who will present his business plan early next year, has announced other moves, including booking billions of euros of pre-tax charges in the first half, bringing back popular models such as the Jeep Cherokee SUV, and refocusing towards hybrid and petrol vehicles.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru and Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Louise Heavens)