Stellantis will halt production at four French plants in October, with stoppages running from 19 to 30 October across Sochaux, Rennes, Mulhouse and Poissy, a company representative told Bloomberg.

The longest shutdown falls on Sochaux, which builds the Peugeot 3008 SUV and will close from 23 to 30 October. Rennes, home of the Citroën C5 Aircross, goes dark from 22 to 30 October. Mulhouse will shut for the final two weeks of October as demand for models such as the Peugeot 308 runs below expectations. Poissy, near Paris, closes for five days from 19 to 23 October.

Stellantis pinned part of the disruption on a shortage of long-range EV batteries, which it said hits the C5 Aircross particularly hard. The long-range version of that model is currently launching in several markets.

"In this context, we are temporarily adjusting our production schedule to remain aligned with market demand and to avoid building up stocks of vehicles that do not match customer needs," the representative said. "This is a temporary measure."

Battery supply at the centre

The battery constraint is not new. Stellantis has long faced short supply of long-range batteries from Automotive Cells Company (ACC), the joint venture it shares with Mercedes-Benz Group and TotalEnergies. ACC declined to comment on the halts but told Bloomberg it is ramping up production and is "honouring the commitments made to our client Stellantis, with module delivery levels that meet their requirements."

That claim from the supplier tier sits uneasily beside the OEM's decision to idle four plants for up to two weeks. ACC's statement is a supplier assertion; the production stoppages themselves are the harder evidence of a supply-demand mismatch that Stellantis has now confirmed through its own schedule changes.

Bloomberg's report framed the shortage against a broader backdrop: a jump in EV demand triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed average petrol and diesel prices to record highs in countries including France. Carmakers are adjusting output as buyers shift toward electric models faster than battery supply can follow.

The wider Stellantis picture

The October stoppages land amid significant repositioning of Stellantis manufacturing in France and beyond.

In May, the company unveiled plans to build EVs under China's Dongfeng luxury brand Voyah at Rennes — the same plant now facing an eight-day October shutdown — as part of a broader European joint venture between the two carmakers. Earlier this month, Stellantis acquired CK Birla Group's remaining stake in their Indian joint venture, giving it full ownership of manufacturing operations at Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu.

Just Auto has contacted Stellantis for further comment.

What to watch

Three markers will tell whether this is a blip or a trend. First, whether ACC's module deliveries to Stellantis plants actually recover in November, allowing Sochaux and Rennes to resume at planned rates. Second, whether the C5 Aircross long-range rollout — the model most exposed to the battery shortage — stays on schedule across its launch markets. Third, whether demand for the Peugeot 308 recovers enough to keep Mulhouse running without further stoppages into the fourth quarter.