The "Stellantis Vigo plant" (''Centro de Vigo de Stellantis'') is a Spanish car manufacturing and assembly plant in the

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) 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 ...

(the successor of

Groupe PSA The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

). In April 1958,

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 8 ...

, responding to the high tariff barriers that protected Spain's domestic auto-makers, established the Vigo car plant in

. As of 2020, the

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

car plant is one of the largest employers in the region, employing roughly 6,500 workers. It is the company's largest plant outside France and employs mainly outsourced workers.

Beginnings

Citroen 2CV fourgonette dept 35 in Essex

'Groene' Citroën C 15D - Flickr - FaceMePLS

The plant's origins date back to the April 1958 establishment at Vigo of "Citroën Hispania," employing, during that first year, approximately 100 people. The choice of Vigo arose from the presence of the port and from the tax advantages arising from the existence of a

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

created "freeport" zone in Vigo. The first vehicle produced was the Furgoneta AZU, a locally assembled

Citroën 2CV The Citroën 2CV (french: link=no, deux chevaux(-vapeur), , lit. "two steam horse(power)s", meaning "two ''taxable'' horsepower") is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy family car, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial d ...

van, which would be joined at the plant a year later by the passenger car version of the same vehicle. During the first year 400 were produced. In August 1959, the company moved to the nearby district of Balaídos, and marked a time of steady expansion, with production rising to 1,700 vehicles, reflecting the increasing pace of demand (due to possible economic growth) in Spain. Production was focused on the domestic market due to poverty as well as the high mutual tariffs characteristic of Spain's economic relations with its neighbours. By 1960, production was up to 3,600 vehicles and over 500 employees. A decade after the creation of "Citroën Hispania", the factory site had virtually reached its current size. Life became more difficult in the later 1960s and 1970s. The pace of economic growth became less frenetic and other automakers established a presence in Spain 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 ...

, who arrived with deep pockets and negotiated a deal with the government which from the beginning permitted (and, if their project were to succeed financially, required) capital intensive high volume low cost production methods for their Fiesta model. Vigo continued to produce only the 2CV and its derivatives, small cars and vans, until 1971 when the mid-size (and by Spanish passenger car standards of the 1960s, "large")

Citroën GS The GS is a front-engine, front-drive, four or five door, five passenger family car manufactured and marketed by Citroën in two series: for model years 1970-1979 in fastback saloon and estate bodystyles and subsequently as the GSA for model yea ...

was added to the range. Nevertheless, the ongoing focus on inexpensive economy

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

cars and vans reduced the vulnerability of the business to slumps in demand for larger cars that would follow when the economy faltered during the 1970s. The Oil Price shock of 1973 hit the automobile industry particularly hard, and in the case of

was followed in 1975 by the death of

, and a period of threatening socio-economic disruption and unrest as the ensuing régime change unfolded. Citroën's Vigo business nevertheless maintained unspectacular but steady growth, with a record output of more than 110,000 vehicles in 1975, by which time the plant was employing more than 6,000 people. After Peugeot bought Citroën, the

Peugeot 504 The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coup� ...

began production in Vigo in 1977. Later the

Peugeot 505 The Peugeot 505 is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1979 to 1992 in Sochaux, France. It was also manufactured in various other countries including Argentina (by Sevel from 1981 to 1995), China, Thailand (by Yon ...

was built at the plant. However, the bulk of production were Citroën cars such as the

Citroën Visa The Citroën Visa is a five-door, front-engine, front wheel drive supermini manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1978 to 1988 in gasoline and diesel variants. 1,254,390 examples were ultimately manufactured over a single generation, with a ...

Citroën BX The Citroën BX is a large family car which was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1982 to 1994. In total, 2,315,739 BXs were built during its 12-year history. The hatchback was discontinued in 1993 with the arrival of the Xantia, ...

Citroën AX The Citroën AX is a supermini which was built by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1986 to 1998. It was launched at the 1986 Paris Motor Show to replace the Citroën Visa and Citroën LNA. Overview Development of this model started in 1 ...

Citroën ZX The Citroën ZX is a small family car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1991 and 1998. During the beginning of the 1990s, the ZX was Citroën's competitor in the class traditionally dominated in Europe by the Ford Escort and ...

Citroën Xsara The Citroën Xsara () is a compact car, compact C-segment family car, produced by the France, French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën, under their Citroën marque, from 1997 to 2006. The Xsara was a development of the Citroën ZX and Peugeot 306, w ...

Citroën Xsara Picasso The Citroën Xsara Picasso is a car produced by Citroën from 1999 to 2012. It has a five-seater five-door compact MPV design. Trim range At the time of its release, two trim levels were available, LX and SX. Later designations were 'Desire', ...

and

Citroën C4 Picasso The Citroën C4 SpaceTourer (formerly the Citroën C4 Picasso) is a five-seater car produced by French manufacturer Citroën with a seven-seater version called the Grand C4 SpaceTourer (formerly the Grand C4 Picasso) also available. It has a five ...

. Also, over 1.1 million units of the

Citroën C15 The Citroën C15 is a panel van produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from late 1984 until 2005. It was the successor to the Citroën Acadiane, which had replaced the Citroën 2CV vans that pioneered the box van format from the 1950 ...

van were produced from 1984 to 2005. In 1996, the

Citroën Berlingo The Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner are a range of multi-purpose vehicles produced by the PSA Group and later by Stellantis. They are sold both as panel vans for use as commercial vehicles and as a passenger variant with rear seats and ...

and

Peugeot Partner 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 then ...

began production. On 15 July 2008 the plant celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in the presence of Thierry Peugeot and

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

The site

The site includes factory units covering panel stamping, welding, painting and assembly.

Production

In 2005 Vigo produced 422,950 vehicles and 46,410

CKD kits A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, then exported to another country or region ...

. By 2007, supported by the success of the second generation Citroën Picasso, the plant reported a record output of 547,000, grouped into three production teams. Centro de Vigo site produced 497,000 vehicles in 2020 and 495,400 in 2021.

Citroën

(2CV from 1959 to 1984, 280,459 units manufactured), 2CV Sahara (1964, 85 units) and 2CV fourgonnette (AZU from 1958 to 1978, 106,005 units ; AK from 1967 to 1978, 196,037 units) * Citroën Dynam I * Citroën Dynam II (from 1967 to 1977, 101,132 units for both generations) * Citroën Dyane 6 (from 1968 to 1983, 233,104 units) *

Citroën Méhari The Citroën Méhari is a lightweight recreational and utility vehicle, manufactured and marketed by French carmaker Citroën over 18 years in a single generation. Built in front-wheel (1968–1988) and four-wheel drive (1980–1983) var ...

(from 1969 to 1980, 12,429 units) * Citroën GS and GSA (from 1971 to 1986, 385,755 units) *

Citroën CX The Citroën CX is a large, front-engined, front-wheel-drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1974 to 1991. Production models took the form of a four-door fastback sedan, station wagon (estate), and a long-wheelbase fastb ...

(from 1976 to 1980, 17,199 units) * Citroën Acadiane (AYU from 1977 to 1987, 249,321 units) *

(from 1981 to 1987, 231,905 units) *

(from 1983 to 1992, 222,325 units) *

and C15 First (from 1984 to 2005, 1,181,407 units) *

(from 1986 to 1997, 812,951 units) *

5-door (from 1991 to 1997, 291,187 units) et 3-door (from 1992 to 1997, 226,297 units) * Citroën Berlingo I and Berlingo First (LCV and passenger, 1,521,024 units) *

3-door (from 1997 to 2000, 122,951 units) and 5-door (from 1997 to 1999, 124,754 units) *

(from 1999 to 2010, 1,531,816 units) * Citroën C4 Picasso I (from 2006 to 2013, 452,446 units) and Grand C4 Picasso I (from 2006 to 2013, 474,483 units) * Citroën Berlingo II (LCV and Multispace, from 2007 to 2018, 1,141,739 units) * Citroën C-Elysée (from 2012, 196,679 units as of late 2019) * Citroën C4 Picasso II, C4 SpaceTourer (from 2013, 293,532 units as of 2019) and Grand C4 Picasso II, Grand C4 SpaceTourer (from 2013, 284,033 units as of 2019) * Citroën Berlingo III et ë-Berlingo (Van and passenger, from 2018, 149,882 units as of 2019)

Peugeot

(from 1977 to 1980, 53,323 units) *

(from 1980 to 1987, 146,216 units) * Peugeot Partner I, Partner Origin and Ranch I (LCV and passenger, from 1996 à 2008, 1,048,579 units) * Peugeot Partner II (LCV et Tepee, from 2007 to 2018, 1,017,159 units) *

Peugeot 301 The Peugeot 301 is a Subcompact (B-segment) sedan produced by the French automaker Peugeot since 2012. It was announced to the public in May 2012, with an official launch that took place at the Paris Motor Show in September. The 301 is built at ...

(from 2012, 232,094 units as of 2019) * Peugeot Partner III, e-Partner, Rifter and e-Rifter (from 2018, 162,037 units as of 2019) * Peugeot 2008 II and e-2008 (from 2019, 22,700 units as of 2019)

Opel/Vauxhall

* Opel/Vauxhall Combo Cargo, Combo-e Cargo, Combo Life and Combo-e Life (from 2018, 17,709 exemplaires as of 2019)

Toyota

* Toyota ProAce City, ProAce City Electric, ProAce City Verso and ProAce City Verso Electric (from 2019, 505 units as of 2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigo Psa Factory Buildings and structures in Galicia (Spain) Motor vehicle assembly plants in Spain 1958 establishments in Spain