Stellantis deepens France investment with new Peugeot EV production

By Gilles Guillaume

MULHOUSE, France, June 2 (Reuters) - Stellantis will produce three new electric and hybrid Peugeot models at its Mulhouse factory in eastern France from 2029, the automaker said on Tuesday, as part of a revamped global strategy that includes a major new product push.    

The launches will be backed by a €400 million ($466 million) investment in the Mulhouse plant, alongside a further €500 million for research and development. Most of the R&D spending will go into the new STLA One platform, which is designed to underpin a new range of electrified vehicles.

The details follow French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement last week that the Franco-Italian automaker would invest €1 billion in France. 

STLA One, a key pillar of Stellantis' new strategy unveiled last month, will be launched first in Spain in 2027 with production of the new Peugeot 208, according to people familiar with the matter.

By 2035, Stellantis expects to build 2 million vehicles per year globally on the new platform, CEO Antonio Filosa told reporters at the Mulhouse site.

He said the platform would be about 20% more competitive than current architectures.

"It will be the platform that will bring Stellantis to cost parity with the Chinese that build in Europe," he said.

Stellantis is also working to reduce excess capacity in Europe by sharing plants with partners - such as in Rennes - or by investing in new products at sites like Mulhouse, he added.

($1 = 0.8586 euros)

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume. Writing by Dominique Patton. Editing by Richard Lough and Mark Potter)