The Stellantis plant in Rennes will produce Dongfeng vehicles
- The Stellantis factory in Rennes ( Ille-et-Vilaine ) was initially a Citroën plant, established to produce the Citroën Ami 6 from 1961. At the time, this factory complemented the brand's existing French industrial infrastructure, which consisted primarily of the Quai de Javel plant in Paris, producing Citroën's high-end models (ID/DS/SM), and the Levallois plant, producing the brand's entry-level models (2CV). Citroën also had a third factory, the Panhard plant at Porte d'Ivry, for assembling its 2CV vans. In 1961, the Ami 6 represented Citroën's mid-range model, positioned between the 2CV and the ID/DS.
- After the Ami 6 and then the Ami 8, this factory traditionally produced the brand's mid-range models, such as the GS and GSA, then the BX, Xantia and C5. Today, the Rennes factory, owned by the Stellantis group since 2021, produces the C5 Aircross SUV , but production volumes will not exceed 50,000 units per year in either 2024 or 2025, whereas this factory still produced 103,000 vehicles in 2020, 156,000 in 2019 and even 340,000 in 2005.
- The Rennes plant is one of many Stellantis plants suffering from significant overcapacity and is therefore one of four group plants suitable for a Chinese carmaker (as desired by Stellantis management) to produce one or more vehicles for the European market. The other three plants in this situation are those in Villaverde (Spain), Eisenach (Germany), and Cassino (Italy). Dongfeng has agreed to produce one of its Voyah brand vehicles ( Dongfeng 's luxury subsidiary ) at the Stellantis site in Rennes.