Stellantis Vigo Plant

The Stellantis Vigo plant (Centro de Vigo de Stellantis) is a Spanish car manufacturing and assembly plant in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia, (Spain) owned by Stellantis (the successor of Groupe PSA).

In April 1958, Citroën, responding to the high tariff barriers that protected Spain's domestic auto-makers, established the Vigo car plant in Galicia.

Beginnings


The establishment of "Citroën Hispania" traces back to April 1958 in Vigo, initially employing around 100 individuals. The selection of Vigo was influenced by its port and tax incentives from a "freeport" zone created by Francisco Franco. The first vehicle manufactured was the Furgoneta AZU, a locally assembled Citroën 2CV van, with the passenger car version following a year later. The first-year production totaled 400 vehicles.

In August 1959, the operations moved to the nearby Balaídos district, marking a phase of gradual expansion as production increased to 1,700 vehicles, possibly reflecting Spain's economic growth at the time. Production mainly catered to the domestic market, influenced by economic conditions and high mutual tariffs with neighboring countries. By 1960, production reached 3,600 vehicles with a workforce of over 500. A decade later, the factory site had nearly attained its current dimensions.

The latter 1960s and 1970s brought challenges due to slowing economic growth and the entry of other automakers like Ford into Spain. Ford's introduction of capital-intensive production methods for their Fiesta model posed competition.

Vigo's production remained limited to the 2CV and its derivatives until 1971 when the mid-size Citroën GS was added to the lineup. The continued emphasis on economical diesel vehicles seemingly mitigated the business's susceptibility to demand slumps for larger cars during the economic downturns of the 1970s.

The 1973 Oil Price shock significantly impacted the automotive industry. In Spain, this period also saw political upheaval following Francisco Franco's death in 1975. Despite these challenges, Citroën's Vigo facility sustained moderate growth, with a record output of over 110,000 vehicles in 1975 and employment rising to over 6,000 individuals.

After Peugeot bought Citroën, the Peugeot 504 began production in Vigo in 1977. Later the Peugeot 505 was built at the plant. However, the bulk of production were Citroën cars such as the Citroën Visa, Citroën BX, Citroën AX, Citroën ZX, Citroën Xsara, Citroën Xsara Picasso and Citroën C4 Picasso.

More than 1.1 million units of the Citroën C15 van were produced from 1984 to 2005. In 1996, the Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner began production.

On 15 July 2008 the plant celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in the presence of Thierry Peugeot and Juan Carlos I of Spain.

The site
The 66 ha site includes factory units covering panel stamping, welding, painting and assembly.

Production
In 2005 Vigo produced 422,950 vehicles and 46,410 CKD kits. 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.