FCA Investing €5 Billion in Italian Factories

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles commits to a €5 billion ($5.6 billion) investment in car production in Italy, including the first installation of a dedicated small battery-electric vehicle platform starting with the Fiat 500.

The announcement comes during a meeting held at the Mirafiori plant in Turin between FCA and union representatives negotiating a collective labor agreement covering the automaker’s companies in Italy.

During the meeting, management presented a product plan for Italian plants that will implement the 2018-2022 business plan presented by FCA in June.

FCA’s investment from 2019 to 2021 will see the Fiat 500 BEV produced at Mirafiori and the European Jeep Compass at the Melfi plant, both employing the existing vehicle platform and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle powertrain underpinning the Jeep Renegade.

This common platform and powertrain also will be applied at the Pomigliano facility to produce an Alfa Romeo compact utility vehicle. A Fiat Panda mild-hybrid vehicle will be launched in Pomigliano as well.

In addition, a new production module will be created at the Termoli plant for production of turbocharged, naturally aspirated and hybrid versions of the 1.0L and 1.3L FireFly gasoline engines.

“Mirafiori will represent the first installation of a full BEV platform applied on the new Fiat 500, capable of scaling to other applications worldwide,” FCA CEO Mike Manley says.

“Additional investments across our Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Fiat brands will realize the benefits of existing plant capacity as well as scale and sourcing efficiencies from a common vehicle architecture, and plug-in hybrid electric propulsion system, while preserving traits unique to the brands.”