Fiat-maker Stellantis plans to build two more cars in Italy to defuse political row

Mon, 27 May, 2024 - 16:20

Albertina Torsoli

Stellantis will propose building two more hybrid vehicles in Italy, according to people familiar with the matter, as part of a bid to appease local politicians as the Fiat maker eyes moving some production to lower-cost countries.

The manufacturer intends to assemble hybrid versions of a Jeep model at the Melfi site in southern Italy and the Fiat 500 at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, the sources said.

The move would help the company’s efforts of making 1m vehicles in the country by 2030, from around 750,000 last year, even as demand for fully electric cars is slowing.

Chief executive Carlos Tavares has been overhauling Stellantis’s industrial footprint — including with stringent cost cuts — at a time when governments in Europe are trying to safeguard manufacturing jobs put at risk by the shift to EVs.

The carmaker’s plans in Italy will depend on the level of support the company gets from the government and unions. Talks on domestic car production between Stellantis, the Italian government, and local unions will continue.

Earlier this month, Italy’s financial police seized dozens of Fiat Topolinos which they said carried the national flag despite being assembled in Morocco, in the latest conflict between Giorgia Meloni’s government and the carmaker. The spat also forced Stellantis to rename a new Alfa Romeo sport utility vehicle as the vehicle is manufactured in Poland.

Thousands of Italians joined striking workers near the carmaker’s base in Turin last month in anticipation of a new round of job reductions. The government in Rome, meanwhile, has been holding talks with carmakers including Tesla, China’s BYD, and Dongfeng Motor Group about producing in the country.