Tavares aims for one million cars a month – Corriere.it

Stellantis and the Italian government have set a common goal: to bring car production in the country above the one million mark, more than doubling the total of 473,000 reached in 2022. However, the timing and methods of achieving it are still all to be defined. Thus, at the end of a 90-minute meeting in Rome, the top management of the company born from the merger between Fiat-Chrysler and PSA and of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy set up a technical working group to arrive by the end of month of July to a “transitional agreement”. Meanwhile, as a sign of good will, Stellantis has confirmed its commitment to invest in Italian plants, announcing its intention to produce a fifth model in Melfi, in Basilicata. Minister Adolfo Urso instead guaranteed that the government will find the resources to support the transition, within the framework of a renewed European industrial policy which will have to protect production and domestic employment.

Stellantis commitment

The contents of the draft agreement are currently confidential. However, Stellantis anticipated the intention of bringing a fifth model to the Melfi production lines which, according to rumors, will have the Jeep brand. However, the promise is not unconditional: the note specifies that the upgrading of the Lucanian plant will take place “subject to improvement in performance”. The manufacturer hopes that the Italian government will support the national car supply chain to make its costs competitive with those of other European countries and China. “The impact of the Euro 7 legislation on the Panda must be addressed and the support of pure electric car sales must be considered to support the activity of our Italian production sites,” remarked Tavares, returning to the criticisms of the new emission standards for diesel and petrol, already shared by Rome. “I am sure that Adolfo Urso will make a decisive contribution to the success of the Italian automotive industry in global competition, facing new players such as the Chinese”.

Government support

During the meeting, Minister Urso illustrated to Tavares the industrial policy document on the automotive sector drawn up on the basis of discussions with the social and production partners and with the Regions where Stellantis plants are located, which indicates objectives and ways to increase production levels, expand the range of models, invest in research and innovation, to protect employment and the entire sector chain. The government is looking for resources to support the production of automobiles within the RepowerEu chapter, an energy transition program towards which part of the resources originally intended for the Pnrr will flow. Talks are also underway with other European countries to define a reform of car purchase incentives which allows for preferential subsidies for cars manufactured in Europe, replicating the model already adopted in the United States with the Inflation Reduction Act.

The jab

At the beginning of the meeting, Urso gave Tavares a copy of the Italian Constitution with articles 1 and 41 highlighted. Article 1 recalls, among other things, that Italy is a democratic republic founded on work, while the article 41 underlines that in Italy private economic initiative is free but cannot take place in conflict with social utility or in such a way as to cause damage to safety, freedom and human dignity. An appeal partially accepted by Tavares. «Stellantis is totally in line with articles 1 and 41 of the Italian Constitution which recognize the value of work and free entrepreneurial initiatives», concluded the manager. «The efficiency performance and sustainability of our Italian operations trigger the sustainability of Stellantis in the interest of our Italian employees and the country’s economy».