The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, reiterated today, in a very productive meeting held in Rome with the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, the Company’s continuous and strong commitment to Italy, one of the three roots of Stellantis with France and USA.
Stellantis considers that this first meeting illustrates the need for continuous and fruitful dialog with all stakeholders to build together a global project for Italy that takes into consideration several factors like market forecast, affordability of cars for Italian customers, impacts of regulation like Euro 7 on Fiat Panda, incentives to maintain Italian competitiveness like cost of energy supply and transformation cost.
Stellantis trust the collective intelligence and necessary well-intended attitude of all stakeholders to create the condition to keep the leading role of Italy at the core of Stellantis strategy, in the very demanding context of electrification and Chinese competition in Europe.
Italy is benefiting from the size of Stellantis and its portfolio of 14 iconic brands, including Fiat, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia, with plans to invest and build even more models for foreign brands in Italy that will contribute positively to Italy’s trade balance. The first example is the Melfi plant, where today Carlos Tavares announced his intention to produce a fifth model in addition to the four already announced, subject to performance improvement. They will be high-value premium models for foreign brands, plus an Italian one on the brand new STLA-M platform, presented last week.
Melfi industrial site benefits from triple-digit million euros investments to support «Melfi fits for five» transformation project. The necessary improvement of the site performance, in the context of increasing competition, requiring the support of all stakeholders against the status quo, will ensure its sustainability and the possible allocation of a fifth model on its production line, that will contribute even more to Made in Italy and exports.
“Stellantis is totally aligned with articles 1 and 41 of the Italian constitution that recognize the value of work and free enterprise economic initiatives. Performance sustainability of our Italian operations trigger the sustainability of Stellantis in the interest of our Italian employees and the country’s economy. Based on the permanent improvement of Stellantis industrial footprint, it is our clear intention to localize more models in Italian plants, starting with Melfi” said Carlos Tavares CEO of Stellantis”. “I’m confident that, together with Adolfo Urso, we will create – Tavares added – the condition to first reverse the downward trend in production volumes in the two coming years and then build together the roadmap to produce one million vehicles in Italy. To achieve this common ambition, we need to create a winning team spirit to support the energy transition and maintain freedom of movement for Italian citizens, embarking all Italian stakeholders and focusing energy on solutions not on dogmas. Impacts of euro7 regulation on Panda is to be addressed and support to BEV sales to enhance our Italian manufacturing activity. The market is leading the manufacturing activity and I’m confident that Adolfo Urso will have a decisive contribution to the success of Italian automotive industry in the global competition, facing new players like Chinese”.
Confirming his “step by step” approach to sharing, which has already yielded important results in previous meetings held over the last few years with government authorities, Carlos Tavares then reconfirmed the importance of Italy for Stellantis, emphasizing the important investments that have been made.
In Turin, the headquarter of Stellantis operations:
- Million-euro triple-digit investment in a brand new ‘grEEn-campus’ that will contribute to Stellantis’ bold ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2038, ahead of all other car manufacturers in the world.
- The first Stellantis Circular Economy Hub, which will be launched in 2023 in the Mirafiori area. This will expand existing Stellantis business and support cradle-to-cradle business model in Europe
- The Battery Technology Center where performance tests and validation of battery components (cells/modules/packs) will be conducted during the development and production phases. The official inauguration will take place in the second half of this year
- As part of the joint venture with Punch Powertrain, called e-Transmissions, Turin will also host an advanced facility for the production and supply of innovative eDCTs for the company’s new generation of hybrid and PHEV models. The facility will become operational in early 2024
- The Turin Manufacturing District which today operates as a design center for electrification, the heart of design for iconic Italian brands and as a production hub for cutting-edge vehicles, such as the full-electric Fiat and Abarth 500, Maserati Levante, Quattroporte, Ghibli and the brand new GranTurismo and GranCabrio, also available in the 100% electric Folgore version.
- The strong connections with all of Turin’s innovative institutions, specifically the Polytechnic University of Turin.
Across Italy:
- the Company has launched, as part of the JV with TotalEnergie and Mercedes-Benz in the Automotive Cells Company, the project for the construction of the third European Gigafactory of Stellantis at the Termoli site.
- Pratola Serra will be the only plant to supply the B2.2 engine for the entire range of commercial vehicles of Stellantis.
- In the Atessa plant, in Abruzzo, the X250 platform of the Fiat Ducato also declined with variants for Peugeot and Citroen, has also been extended to Opel, guaranteeing continuity and longevity to the best-selling large van in Europe and confirming that Atessa will be a strategic site for the growth targets announced in the Dare Forward 2030 plan. Stellantis and Toyota Motor Europe also announced the expansion of their existing partnership with an agreement to produce a new large commercial vehicle which will also have a battery electric version.
- Pomigliano has seen the arrival of a particularly competitive product such as the Alfa Romeo Tonale and the Dodge Hornet for the US market, which has even switched to double-shift production thanks to the success of the PHEV version. Furthermore, the Fiat Panda produced in the Campania plant continues to be a winning model, especially thanks to the hybrid version, but it will have to deal with the Euro 7 standard.
- Production and delivery of the new Maserati Grecale model has begun in Cassino, which will complete the range with the Folgore variant at the end of the year. A success that reinforces the Alfa Romeo production of Giulia and Stelvio. The Cassino plant will extend its activity to the production of vehicles based on the STLA Large flexible BEV platform.
- Production of the MC20 was successfully launched in Modena, defined by the international specialized press as one of the best supercars ever, just as the spider MC20 Cielo made its debut. Furthermore, a new painting department called “FuoriSerie” will be set up in the Modena plant, dedicated to customizing Trident models.
- An important business unit dedicated to the production of Industrial and Marine Engines has been defined in Cento, a business sector that has seen a growing production volume in recent years.
SOURCE: Stellantis
