Stellantis Charm Offensive Sees Production Boost Pledge for Italy
Post-Tavares business strategy kicks off with auto group promising full vehicle production plans to secure Italian jobs starting in 2026.
Stellantis is moving fast to present a business approach with its domestic Italian brands to relationships with the government in the wake of Carlos Tavares' resignation as CEO.
The automaker announces a new production plan to boost its vehicle output in Italy hoping to end nearly a year of friction the group has faced from Italian government attacks that too much domestic production was being cut while more models were being made in other countries.
Italy’s government is concerned that shifting car production to nations with lower labor costs, such as Morocco, Serbia and Poland, threatens jobs at home where Stellantis affiliate Fiat employs 40,000 people.
Now a meeting between Stellantis and Italian ministers hears chief operating officer for expanded Europe, Jean-Philippe Imparato, commit Fiat to full production allocations for all of its plant in Italy until 2032, reports Reuters.
However, the turnaround will only begin from 2026 as the automaker group struggles to return to the sort of profitability it enjoyed up to last year.
Vehicle output in Italy is expected to fall below 500,000 vehicles this year, according to estimates from the FIM-Cisl union, from 751,000 in 2023.
Its Italian plan includes manufacturing at least two compact models at the Pomigliano plant in southern Italy, where the automaker will introduce its new STLA Small platform from 2028, as well as extend production of the long-running urban runabout, Imparato tells the meeting.
He also pledges the group will triple the expected production volumes of other brands at the Melfi plant in southern Italy by adding hybrid versions of three midsize models including the Jeep Compass, Lancia Gamma and DS7.
Also being considered are hybrid versions of the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV and Alfa Romeo Giulia sport sedan, initially planned only as a battery-electric vehicle, which would be manufactured in the Cassino plant, central Italy, from 2025 and 2026.
He adds that because global demand for BEVs remains soft, hybrid models are expected to sell in higher numbers.
In response, Italian industry minister Adolfo Urso promises to spend €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) to support Italy's automotive supply chain. However, the government plans to scrap BEV consumer incentives next year as it pushes the European Union to allow new vehicles with internal-combustion engines, such as hybrids, to be sold after the current deadline of 2035.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Imparato says, “If the market responds, we will meet all the figures we have in mind. I do not want to make promises I cannot keep.”
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