Good news for employment: the electric R5 is keeping production lines running at full speed in Douai

Renault is accelerating production in the North. Driven by the success of the Renault 5 electric vehicle, the Douai factory has reverted to a 3×8 work schedule and is hiring nearly 350 temporary workers to strengthen its night shift team. This increase in capacity aims to enable the ElectriCity facility to assemble up to 1,400 vehicles per day and address prolonged delivery times.

Douai Returns to 3×8 Schedule

The Douai factory, a key industrial hub for Renault for decades, has regained a production pace it hadn’t seen in a long time. The ElectriCity site has returned to a 3×8 work schedule, with nearly 350 additional temporary workers to bolster the night shift team. This boost in capacity isn’t without reason.

As early as July, Renault announced that the Douai plant was operating with a night shift at reduced capacity, after already hiring 550 temporary workers since October 2025. An additional acceleration was planned starting in September, and that has now been implemented.

Up to 1,400 vehicles per day

The goal behind this increase is to reach around 1,200 vehicles per day, a figure that could rise to 1,300 or even 1,400 units if demand persists, according to a FO union representative cited by Europe 1. This acceleration is also intended to shorten delivery times, as some configurations of the Renault 5 electric vehicle still require several months of waiting.

A locomotive named R5

The R5 electric vehicle plays a significant role in this situation. In the first eight months of 2026, nearly 27,000 units of this urban electric car were registered in France. It was the second-best-selling fully electric model in the country during that period, behind the Tesla Model Y. However, it should be noted that Douai no longer assembles only the R5.

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Alongside it, models such as the Mégane and Scénic, as well as the Alpine A290, Nissan Micra electric, and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross are also available.

A broader industrial strategy

This acceleration is part of the momentum at the Renault ElectriCity hub, which brings together Douai, Maubeuge, and Ruitz. The group claims to have created 700 permanent jobs in this area between 2022 and 2025, with another 300 jobs targeted by 2027.

Renault also surpassed the milestone of one million electric vehicles produced in France since 2010 this summer, a symbolic achievement for a facility that will eventually also handle production for Ford.