Here’s how and why Urso hits Stellantis
What did Minister Urso say about the prospects of Stellantis in Italy, the role of the government and the possible entry of new car manufacturers (even Chinese?) to the table on Melfi. All the details
On Stellantis “the government has already given, in the sense that it has achieved things that previously seemed impossible. Now it's up to the company to adapt its industrial, financial and internationalization plan to what the Italian system expects." According to what was declared today by the Minister of Business Adolfo Urso, on the sidelines of the table on the Melfi plant, "now it is the company", that is Stellantis, "that must give to Italy".
URSO'S WORDS
“I understand that Tavares protects the interests of its shareholders ”, i.e. Exor (14.2 percent), the Peugeot family (7.1 percent) and the French public bank Bpifrance (6.1 percent), “but the government protects the interests of Italians and I hope that there is a convergence between the interests of shareholders in maximizing their profit and the interests of Italians in protecting and strengthening an industry at the heart of the automotive industrial system".
Urso said that Giorgia Meloni's government has already made its contribution: "it has changed European policy on the auto sector, it has created an innovation incentive plan for companies including the auto sector such as Transition 5.0 and it has created a plan of incentives for cars, aimed above all at the scrapping of old and polluting cars and the purchase of the most ecologically sustainable cars".
WHAT WILL STELLANTIS DO IN MELFI?
According to Urso, Stellantis has "reaffirmed that it intends to build five models in Melfi, which was the commitment made by Tavares", the CEO, "when we met here" at the Ministry of Business. “Today a process has begun to set the objectives plant by plant,” added the minister.
THE MELONI GOVERNMENT IS LOOKING FOR OTHER AUTO MANUFACTURERS
Urso then recalled how the government is open to attracting other automotive producers to Italy "because if the company (i.e. Stellantis, ed. ) tells us that two thirds of its production will be destined abroad, then the delta between production in Italy and registrations in Italy are increasing, it is larger than you might think. If Stellantis does not fill this delta, we will look for other companies available to cover this delta".
According to journalistic reconstructions and Urso's past statements, the Meloni government has discussed the possibility of opening factories in Italy with various car manufacturers, both Chinese (one of these is BYD , leader in the electric vehicle market) and US such as Tesla .
The Meloni government aims to have a production of at least 1 million cars and 300,000 light commercial vehicles per year in Italy: this is – according to Palazzo Chigi – the minimum volume to guarantee the stability of the national automotive supply chain. During the discussion on Melfi, Urso said that "if there is no significant increase in models [produced by Stellantis] this year, the funds will all go towards encouraging the establishment of other manufacturers in Italy and the transformation of the sector" .
“Several car manufacturers that do not have production sites in Europe are looking for a place and country to invest. Italy”, added the minister, “I believe is the country that has the greatest attractions at the moment, precisely because it is the only car producing country in Europe to have a single car manufacturer. We have a skilled workforce and an excellent related industry in Italy that works with foreign producers. We have an ecosystem” suitable for the automotive industry.
DUTIES ON CHINA?
Despite the talks with the Chinese producers, Urso also said that he believed "it is likely that in the coming months Europe will do what the United States did for Chinese cars, which means that we will go down a path that will protect European production from unfair competition".
The minister was referring to the anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from China that the European Commission launched last September. “Right now the global markets,” explained President Ursula von der Leyen, “are flooded with cheap Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies. This distorts our market."
The investigation could lead to the imposition of duties on electric vehicles imported from China. Duties which, however, BYD, for example, could circumvent thanks to its manufacturing location in Hungary, where it will open its first plant on European territory: Hungary, therefore, could become BYD's access point to the European market of Chinese car manufacturers . Italy could serve the same purpose, should the company decide to invest there.
The Meloni government, essentially, considers China both an economic competitor to be hindered and a fundamental ally for the increase in Italian automotive production. BYD, however, owes its success to vertical integration: in addition to cars, it is also one of the main battery manufacturing companies in the world and would therefore be unlikely to source the components of its cars from Italian companies.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/urso-dichiarazioni-tavolo-stellantis-melfi/ on Tue, 02 Apr 2024 14:29:23 +0000.