At Stellantis in the Pas-de-Calais, the end of the thermal causes some hiccups – Liberation
Reportage
Article reserved for subscribers
In Pas-de-Calais, a thermal engine production plant is reorienting itself towards electric batteries. A change that worries employees despite promises of retraining.
They all still call their factory “La Française de Mécanique”. However, the “FM” changed its name in 2019 with the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler, it became Stellantis Douvrin. But the new name does not print. A what good? The future no longer belongs to the thermal engines that the French company has been manufacturing for Peugeot since 1969, in Douvrin, in Pas-de-Calais. No, the future is electric, as the advertisement shouts along the four-lane. Here is built the battery gigafactory of ACC (Automotive Cells Company), a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies. The structure of the new factory is already emerging from the ground, in place of the old workshops, scheduled to open next year. Next to it, there is what remains of the FM, two buildings out of the eight existing ones. From 2017, PSA compacted the site, reduced from 140 to 40 hectares. Disappeared, the emblematic number 1, where the X engine was integrated, which equipped the Peugeot 104. “I was one of the first hired, remembers Henri Davroux, member of the office of the Amicale des Anciens. It hurt my stomach when they demolished. We were up to 6,400 workers, and we made up to 10,400 engines per day.
“Excuse from the energy transition”
The closure of the foundry in 2005 …