The Stellantis Mulhouse Plant is a major car plant in France owned by

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...

. It has produced cars since 1972, notching up its first ten million in June 2008. Production processes include panel and component forming,

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...

, body painting and final assembly.

Location and site

The plant is located on a large site at Sausheim on the Île Napoléon, on the eastern edge of the

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

conurbation. This places it approximately 65 km / 40 miles to the east of the company’s principal plant at

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

, the two locations having been linked by the

A36 autoroute The A36 autoroute is a toll motorway in northeastern France connecting the German border with Burgundy. It is also known as ''La Comtoise''. The road forms part of European route E60 European route E 60 is the second longest road in t ...

since the late 1970s.

History

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

started manufacturing gear-boxes (transmissions) at their Mulhouse factory in 1962. The 1960s were a period of rapid expansion for Peugeot, with the market-place success of, in particular, their 204 enabling them to overtake

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...

and

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

in the domestic sales charts, which moved the manufacturer from fourth position to second in the French market. Peugeot were sufficiently profitable in this period to pursue a strategy that involved broadening their range downmarket, to include for the first time a model in the “ Supermini” class. This car, launched towards the end of 1972, was the

Peugeot 104 The Peugeot 104 is a supermini designed by Paolo Martin and produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1972 and 1988. It was the first model produced at the company's Mulhouse plant. It was also the first new Peugeot introduced sin ...

, advertised at the time as Europe’s smallest four door saloon, and the first complete car to be assembled at the company’s Mulhouse plant. Subsequent output has included the

205 Year 205 ( CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 958 '' Ab urbe condita' ...

, 106, 206 and 206 CC as well as the

307 __NOTOC__ Year 307 ( CCCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Maximinus (or, less frequently, year 1060 ...

. The plant’s top sellers to date have been the

Peugeot 205 The Peugeot 205 is a supermini (B-segment) car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1983 to 1999. It was declared "car of the decade" by ''CAR Magazine'' in 1990. It also won ''What Car?s Car of the Year for 1984. The 205 was intro ...

and the

Peugeot 106 The Peugeot 106 is a supermini produced by French automaker Peugeot between 1991 and 2003. Launched in September 1991, it was Peugeot's entry level offering throughout its production life, and was initially sold only as a three door hatchback, ...

with 2.2 million of each produced at Mulhouse. Since 2004, Mulhouse output has also included

badged vehicles starting with the

Citroën C4 The Citroën C4 is a small family car/compact car (also classified as a compact crossover SUV since 2020) produced under their Citroën marque, from the French automaker PSA Group, and later Stellantis. It was positioned to be the successor to ...

and, more recently, the DS4. Production of the

Peugeot 308 The Peugeot 308 is a small family car produced by French automaker Peugeot. It was unveiled in June 2007, and launched in September 2007. The 308 replaced the 307, and positioned below the 508 and above the smallest 208. The 308 is followed by a ...

was initially shared with the nearby Sochaux plant. 90,000 of the cars have been produced at Mulhouse: but Since April 2012 Sochaux has become the sole production facility for the 308 in France. The most recent Peugeot model produced at Mulhouse is the

208 Year 208 ( CCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 961 ''Ab urbe condita' ...

of which production in France is shared with the Poissy plant. The 208 has been in production at Mulhouse since June 2012.

Forge

Peugeot were able to choose a relatively spacious site for their Mulhouse plant, which is the only car plant in France to incorporate within its fences a large

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

, originally transferred from the company’s Sochaux location in 1963. The forge supplies other plants in

as well as third party customers including

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

and BMW.

Volumes

In 2005 output reached 400,000 vehicles, but in 2006 this was reduced to 341,000, and in 2007 to 294,000. In 2010 output recovered to 321,000.

Personnel

In 2007 Peugeot employed 10,400 people. at Mulhouse. In 2011 the reported headcount at the Mulhouse plant was down to 8,500.

References

This article incorporates information from the equivalent entry in the French Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Psa Mulhouse Plant 1962 establishments in France Motor vehicle assembly plants in France Buildings and structures in Haut-Rhin