Employees work in the production hall of the SUSTAINera Circular Economy Center in the Mirafiori complex of Stellantis NV in Turin, Italy, Thursday, November 23, 2023.
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Vehicles produced by car manufacturers star Union figures on Friday showed Italy’s sales fell 37% last year, particularly hit by a sharp decline in car manufacturing.
To address overcapacity in Italy, the group relies heavily on a state-funded temporary layoff program. Stellantis presented a plan to increase production in December, but production is not expected to increase until 2026 due to the launch of new models.
Stellantis, formed from the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s Peugeot Citroën, produced 475,090 cars in Italy last year, down from 751,384 in 2023, the FIM-CISL union said.
In particular, automobile production fell by 46% to its lowest level since 1956, while production of new commercial vehicles fell by 17%.
Stellantis could not immediately be reached for comment.
Like its European peers, the world’s fourth-largest automaker faces weak demand, especially for battery-electric vehicles, regulatory uncertainty and fierce competition from China.
FIM-CISL said it would join a protest planned by labor group IndustriALL Europe in Brussels on February 5, two weeks before the European Commission proposes a Clean Industry Deal.
The union’s leader, Ferdinando Uliano, said it was important to review the EU’s vehicle carbon emissions reduction targets that will be implemented from 2025.
“This is a battle for Europe,” Ugliano said of the crisis facing the European auto industry. “A single country can only lose.”
Stellantis operates five automotive plants and one commercial vehicle plant in Italy.
Last year, output at the group’s Mirafiori plant in Turin fell by 70%. Only the Maserati factory in Modena, the center of Italy’s “Auto Valley”, performed worse, with a 79% drop.
“We are very worried about Maserati,” Uliano said. “We expect Maserati to have a clear and detailed project soon.”
Stellantis pledged in December to invest 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in Italy in 2025 to produce new models at some factories in the country.
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