France unveiled a national electrification strategy aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and strengthening domestic industry, with President Emmanuel Macron announcing that Stellantis plans to invest more than €1 billion in a new generation of electric vehicle production at its Mulhouse plant beginning in 2029.
Macron presented the roadmap during the “Réunion de l’équipe de France de l’électrification” at the Élysée Palace, where government officials and industry representatives gathered to discuss the country’s energy transition and industrial development plans.
One of the strategy’s main goals is to reduce the share of fossil fuels in France’s energy mix from 60% currently to 30% by 2035. The government plans to achieve this through greater energy efficiency, expanded renewable energy generation and the construction of new nuclear power plants.
Electric mobility is expected to play a major role in supporting these objectives.
“Electrifying our usage – that is the core of the plan,” President Emmanuel Macron said during the summit.
The strategy also emphasizes reindustrialisation, with France seeking to expand domestic battery and electric vehicle supply chains as part of its broader economic agenda.
As part of the initiative, Macron announced that Stellantis intends to invest more than €1 billion in the production of a new generation of electric vehicles at its Mulhouse facility from 2029 onward. He described the project as an additional investment but did not provide further details regarding models or production capacity.
Stellantis has not formally confirmed the investment announcement. The automaker said it is currently evaluating the future of its manufacturing sites, including Mulhouse, and would provide further information when official decisions are made.
The announcement would expand the role of the Mulhouse factory, which currently manufactures the Peugeot 308, 408 and 508, as well as the DS 7, including battery-electric variants of some models.
Details regarding how the new electric vehicle production program would be integrated into the facility have not been disclosed. However, the investment could provide a significant boost for the plant’s approximately 4,000 employees.
The factory has experienced lower output levels in recent years.
“It has never returned to the pre-Covid level of 200,000 vehicles annually,” Laurent Gautherat, a trade union representative at the Mulhouse plant, told French newspaper L’Alsace in April.
According to Gautherat, the facility currently produces around 135,000 vehicles per year and its assembly line is operating at roughly half of its capacity. Stellantis also suspended production on several occasions last year amid weaker vehicle demand.
Macron used the summit to call for faster electrification of transport as France works toward its goal of eliminating the use of oil, gas and coal by 2050. He argued that electrification can support industrial growth and job creation rather than lead to deindustrialisation.
France has recently increased its ambitions for electric mobility. In April, the government unveiled a roadmap targeting two-thirds of new car sales to be electric by 2030. The plan also aims for French manufacturers to produce 400,000 electric vehicles annually by 2027 and one million units by 2030.
In addition, the government plans to install approximately 30,000 fast-charging points by 2035, including 8,000 chargers designed for heavy-duty trucks and long-distance freight transport.
Macron said the government is seeking to balance both vehicle supply and consumer demand while coordinating policies at the European level.
“We are making significant efforts to align supply and demand. This also applies at the European level with a coherent policy,” Macron said.
He added that supporting non-European offerings does not align with France’s industrial strategy and pointed to future social leasing programs and incentives for commercial vehicles as measures intended to accelerate EV adoption.
Source: lemonde.fr, elysee.fr
