In Melfi production at risk, volumes halved for the Stellantis plant
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To feel the pulse of the made in Italy auto industry, you need to get to Melfi, around one of the most important Stellantis industrial plants in Italy. For months, the industrialists of the region have been talking about the risks for companies in the automotive district linked to the Stellantis programmes. Volumes on the new four-model platform that the Group will install in the Lucanian hub should be around 80,000 units, to which the production of a fifth model could be added, to reach 150,000-160,000 cars, half of the 300,000 units produced between 2016 and 2018.
The automotive sector
“The auto sector as a whole is worth between 400 and 500 billion, about 20% of GDP, so it is a strategic sector for the country, of national interest” underlines Francesco Somma, president of Confindustria Basilicata. «This national interest must be considered an absolute priority – is Somma’s reasoning – because Italy cannot afford to lose the car industry. We are certainly late but, at this point, it is forbidden to waste any more time. There is a risk of dramatic consequences for employment in the automotive, component and allied industries. We need a stakeholder approach, as bearers of strategic national interest». The industrial world of Basilicata, and that of the automotive industry in general, remains united in posing the theme of the future of the car at a national level. «Even the national government must move for the car as it does for other strategic sectors, from aerospace to nautical, calling Stellantis to the table – argues Somma – and negotiating to guarantee a precise commitment on volumes. And, if this does not prove possible, work must be done to favor solutions before it is too late. The objective, which cannot be renounced, is to reach the critical threshold of one million cars produced in Italy».
The evolution of the Basilicata district
Five years ago, the automotive district of Basilicata had 13,000 employees among FCA direct employees – today Stellantis – and related industries, today it has decreased to 10,000. Last year 163 thousand cars were produced in Melfi, volumes in sharp decline starting from 2019. According to the industrial plan of Stellantis, in Melfi, where the Jeep Renegade and Compass and the Fiat 500 X are now produced, the new STLA Medium platform for the production of 4 full electric models. There could be a fifth model in the drawer but overall the volumes should settle between 100,000 and 160,000 units. A threshold that puts the survival of the entire satellite industry at risk. “When we speak of Italy’s competitiveness – adds Somma – we must think of the lack of industrial policies and not of the technological delays of companies”. In France, as in Spain, the productions arrive, he adds, «certainly not because the cost of labor is low, it is necessary to work on a plan shared with the producer to correct the shot on critical factors such as energy and implement specific actions to consolidate volumes». Basilicata quickly obtained recognition as a complex crisis area, «but it is a defensive instrument» adds Somma, «necessary but not sufficient to attract production and investments such as to guarantee the full economic and social stability of the area Melfi and, of the regional GDP».
The concern of related companies
Among the related companies there is Patrone and Mongiello. «We work for all the factories of the Stellantis Group and we also have a pole in Poland – says Paolo Patrone, manager of the company active in the sector of sheet metal components, bodies and suspensions – and our concern is related to the stability above all of the Potenza factory where we have about 150 people. The assembly of electric cars requires less work and components, the risks are therefore evident». If the volumes of Melfi do not grow, he explains, “we risk going from a significant turnover to a residual share”. Vincenzo Di Miscio is the managing director of Plasticform, a company active in the plastic components sector which has already had to reduce the number of employees. “Concerns in the area are widespread because there is uncertainty about the future and declining volumes, as well as a scarce involvement of the Melfi related companies”.
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