Spain beats France: Stellantis will make its new small electric cars in Vigo and Zaragoza

The Stellantis automobile consortium, which brings together brands such as Citroën, Peugeot, Opel, Lancia and Jeep, has decided to assign the production of the new small electric cars based on the Small STLA platform to its Spanish factories in Vigo and Zaragoza.. The cars would enter the production chain from 2025 and the project would involve the investment of more than 1,000 million euros, while the group led by Carlos Tavares hopes to alleviate part of that burden by opting to obtain 150 million euros from the funds of the PERTE VEC II, which closes the application window today.

The information was reported by the newspaper Cinco Días, although Stellantis sources contacted by this newspaper have declined to comment.. The assignment of the project is not expected to be made public until at least November, but, if confirmed, it would guarantee the future of the company's two largest factories in our country.. The new platform would not be introduced for now in Madrid, where it assembles the C4 and C4X models, both in combustion and 100% electric versions.

In addition, it would mean a new setback for the French Government, at war with the Stellantis leadership so that it “relocalizes” the production of its electric cars to France.. In July, the French Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, assured that this movement would be “an act of economic patriotism” and 'sweetened' his demand by pointing out that they were considering “possible subsidies.”. In addition, the French State owns 6% of the capital of Stellantis.

According to France, this withdrawal should begin by 'stealing' from Spain the production of the new Peugeot e-208, an electric utility vehicle that is planned to be manufactured at the Zaragoza facilities and of which the first test units are already being produced, although the project has not been officially awarded.

The response that Tavares gave then destroyed all those aspirations: “It is not economically viable, it would be a bad solution for both the company and the country,” he said.. And it would now be reconfirmed with the new project.

And for an executive like Tavares, who has made cost reduction a mantra to turn Stellantis into a money-making machine, the Spanish move suits him.. In fact, the company he directs is the leading vehicle manufacturer in our country and last year between Vigo, Zaragoza and Madrid it assembled 852,000 units, 38.4% of the total national production.

This volume is distributed among no less than 16 models from the Citroën, Opel, Peugeot, Fiat brands, as well as small vans for Toyota.. And a non-negligible amount of those cars (more than 112,000 units) were 100% electric.. Furthermore, in the starting portfolio would be the aforementioned Peugeot e-208 and also the new Lancia Ypsilon, which will be made in Zaragoza.

Specifically, of those 16 cars, 12 have a 100% electric version: the Citroën ë-C4 and ë-C4 the commercial and multipurpose Citroën ë-Berlingo/ë-Berlingo VAN, Fiat e-Doblò/Doblò electric Van, Opel Combo-e Life/Combo-e Cargo and Peugeot e-Partner/e-Rifter, in the Center of Vigo.

Low price, more volume

The new Small platform is one of the four on which Stellantis will manufacture its electric cars in the future. And by serving as both utility vehicles (segment A) and urban vehicles (B) and compact vehicles (C), it will be the one that will allow us to offer the most affordable models with the highest sales.

Furthermore, if it arrives in Spain, it would strengthen our country's options to host one of the battery gigafactories that Stellantis will need in the future.. The company has already announced that it will build six facilities of this type around the world, of which three will be in Europe (France, Germany and Italy), for a total capacity of 250 GWh.

However, the company has resized those plans and now talks about needing up to 400 GWh, which would open the door to three or four extra factories.

In this sense, our country has already confirmed the Sagunto gigafactory of VW and Seat, to supply the small electric vehicles that they will make in Barcelona and Pamplona from 2025; that of the Chinese company Envision and Acciona in Extremadura; and that of Inobat in Valladolid. Likewise, the Chinese BYD will decide before the end of the year where its battery plant will be located in Europe, with our country on the shortlist of candidates.

Regarding the production of 100% battery-powered vehicles, to Stellantis and Seat/VW we must add the Mercedes projects in Vitoria, with the new generation of the V-Class and Vito models; the cars that Ford will make in Valencia starting in 2026 or those that will leave the old Nissan facilities in Barcelona with an electromobility hub to which the Chinese Chery could be added.