Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has slammed carmaker Stellantis, accusing it of weakening Italy’s industrial base since the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot that created the world’s fourth-largest carmaker. ing.
MILAN — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused automaker Stellantis of weakening Italy’s industrial base since the merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot to create the world’s fourth-largest carmaker. criticized.
As one of Italy’s top private employers, Fiat and its successors Fiat Chrysler and Stellantis have always been in the government’s attention, but rarely has the prime minister made such pointed comments. Meloni also characterized the merger that created Stellantis in 2021 as a French acquisition.
“We want to get back to producing one million cars a year, with anyone who wants to invest in historic Italian excellence,” he said in a speech to parliament on Wednesday.
Meloni cited figures such as how Italian car production fell from 1 million in 2017 to less than 700,000 in 2022 and how Stellantis has cut 7,000 jobs since the merger.
“If we want to sell cars promoted as Italian jewels on the international market, these cars need to be produced in Italy,” Meloni said.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who was visiting the company’s Abruzzo factory, told reporters he did not believe the company’s Italian employees would appreciate Mr. Meloni’s characteristics.
“We have more than 40,000 employees in Italy who are full of talent and are working hard to adapt the company to the new reality in accordance with the decisions of politicians,” he said.
The company said production in Italy rose by nearly 10% last year to 752,000 vehicles, two-thirds of which were exported and “contributed to Italy’s trade balance.” Stellantis said it has invested billions of euros in recent years in new products and operating production sites in Italy.
Auto industry expert Franceso Zirupoli said that the late former Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s goal was to create a luxury car hub in Italy, producing 1.4 million cars a year. Regardless, Italy’s annual car production has fallen from 2 million 20 years ago to about 800,000 before the pandemic, he said.
Instead, Fiat Chrysler began looking for a European partner and put new investments on hold, which only weakened Turin’s claim to remain an R&D center after the 2021 merger, he said.
“It was clear that the technological capital of Europe could not be Turin, it had to be Paris,” said Zirupoli, director of the Automotive and Mobility Innovation Center at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.
Without a base for research and development activities, “production could easily be moved from one place to another, and Italy became just another place where production could be located,” he said. .
Zirupoli said the key for governments looking to expand production is to make Italy an attractive investment destination.
While Meloni touts Italian car “gems” such as Fiat, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, Girupoli points out that most of the 474,000 Stellantis cars produced for export in Italy last year were owned by the group. He pointed out that it was wearing the nameplate of an American brand, Jeep, rather than the famous Italian brand.