Permanent restructuring amid the uncertain transition to electric mobility: evidence from Stellantis factories in France and Italy

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This paper analyses the trajectory of the Stellantis group in France and Italy against the backdrop of the uncertain and contested transition to electric mobility, drawing on fieldwork and interviews with workers and trade union representatives conducted in five manufacturing plants—two in France and three in Italy. In both countries, production and employment trends within the multinational company display a marked decline, with a gradual reduction in the factory workforce—particularly through voluntary redundancy and pre-retirement schemes—as well as shrinking production volumes. Rather than compensating for the production crisis, the launch of battery electric vehicle (BEV) production and the simultaneous creation of a new multinational conglomerate through the merger between the automotive groups FCA and PSA have reinforced competitive pressures on plants, fuelling restructuring processes and intensifying inter-plant competition for model allocation.

More specifically, the relocation of lower-segment vehicle manufacturing to the European periphery and semi-periphery, together with the ‘premiumisation’ (Frigant and Jullien, 2018) or ‘upmarket drift’ (Pardi, 2022, 2024) observed in core European countries, has placed particular pressure on both Italy and France, contributing to what has been described as a process of ‘managed decline’ (Carbonell and Pardi, 2025). This process of downsizing, competitive pressure and ‘permanent restructuring’ (Siemiatycki, 2012) is examined through two main analytical lenses: working conditions on the shop floor and the arena of industrial relations.

With regard to working conditions, the analysis reveals a paradoxical dynamic. On the one hand, workers experience deteriorating conditions and intensified production rhythms; on the other, companies continue to rely extensively on social safety nets to manage declining production volumes. In practice, competition for the allocation of new models increasingly unfolds through concessions on wages, working conditions and broader cost-reduction policies. Workers in both countries report growing levels of physical and mental strain, resulting not only from work intensification but also from processes linked to digitalisation and evolving forms of work organisation. The production of higher-segment models—requiring a greater number of components and therefore more labour effort—as well as the widespread engine mix on assembly lines, whereby vehicles with different types of engines are produced on the same line, further contribute to the deterioration of working conditions.

At the same time, the analysis highlights a deterioration in relations between management and trade unions. Trade unions’ room for manoeuvre has narrowed, while managerial unilateralism in decision-making has increased. This has resulted in a substantial hollowing out of formal bodies responsible for information and consultation, as well as a weakening of informal industrial relations practices. As a consequence, trade unions’ role has increasingly shifted towards the resolution of individual grievances rather than the collective representation of workers’ interests.

Despite the reduction in trade union agency, however, the paper also highlights the emergence of potential alternative strategies. The revival of unified trade union action in certain local contexts (notably in Turin), as well as the emergence of informal forms of transnational coordination among unions beyond the formal framework of the European Works Council, represent encouraging developments. Although a more robust process of cross-border trade union cooperation remains distant, such coordination appears crucial for challenging managerial strategies based on inter-plant competition and the resulting race to the bottom in working conditions.