A shipment of battery components intended for Stellantis has been stolen from a logistics supplier near the group’s Hordain plant in France, with the goods valued at around €500,000. Stellantis confirmed the incident to AFP and said the site operator had filed a complaint with the gendarmerie.
Trailer carrying Stellantis battery components stolen near Hordain as police investigate
The cargo included cells and modules that still required further industrial processing. Stellantis explained that assembly plants such as Hordain combine these components with electronics and place them inside a steel housing to create the final battery pack. The theft therefore involved intermediate production components before installation in vehicles.
News of the incident emerged on November 2, around two weeks after the theft took place. According to regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, those responsible removed an entire semi-trailer from the GSF logistics platform opposite the plant near Valenciennes.
Investigators from the Lille judicial police are examining the possibility that an organized group carried out the theft. The investigation will need to reconstruct access to the yard, the vehicle’s movements and the subsequent route taken by the stolen goods. AFP attributed the €500,000 estimate to a source close to the case, separate from Stellantis’ confirmation that the theft occurred.
Hordain produces commercial vehicles for several brands and also carries out battery assembly work. The first reports on the case leave the impact on supplies unclear, and Stellantis has not yet announced whether the incident affected production.
Reselling the stolen components would also require buyers to find compatible applications and complete the assembly process correctly. Technical specifications, origin and storage conditions all contribute to the value of the parts, which require appropriate precautions during transport and storage.
Similar incidents have also affected Tesla batteries in the United States. A WIRED investigation based on documents from authorities in Storey County identified at least 11 suspected cargo thefts from Nevada facilities since December 2025. The stolen goods reportedly included automotive batteries and Powerwall home energy systems.
In some U.S. cases, suspects allegedly used forged documents to pose as authorized carriers collecting shipments. In the Hordain case, however, the exact method remains part of the French investigation, which will have to establish how the semi-trailer disappeared from the supplier’s site.