Stellantis CEO Confirms Italy Commitment Amid Car Demand Woes
Vehicle Manufacturer Has Been Forced to Temporarily Shut Down Several Sites in Europe This Month
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Stellantis NV reaffirmed its commitment to its Italian manufacturing operations, making a pledge to hire 400 additional workers to bolster production at its Mirafiori plant in Turin.
CEO Antonio Filosa met with labor unions Oct. 20 amid calls from worker representatives for clarity on the company’s plans. Stellantis has paused output at several factories in Europe, raising questions over the future of several sites.
Like its rivals, Stellantis is contending withchallenging conditionsand excess capacity in Europe, where Chinese manufacturers led by BYD Co. are expanding with competitively priced cars. The company has committed to 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in orders from local suppliers and vowed to shut down no Italian plants.
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The company is respecting the timelines of the longer-term strategic plan for Italy announced in December 2024, Filosa told labor unions. The extra staff at Mirafiori will help support production of a hybrid Fiat 500, with the start of a second shift in February, he said.
The new CEO, who took the helm of Stellantis in June, confirmed that production of a new Jeep Compass will kick off in coming weeks in Melfi, southern Italy. The group is also planning a “multi-energy” offer for the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio models, which will help guarantee a “stable future” for a plant in Cassino, north of Naples. The additional jobs in Mirafiori come on top of other recent hires there, as well as in the plant of Atessa in central Italy, Filosa said.
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“It’s not enough, but I can tell you that is all we can do so far considering the context,” Filosa said at the meeting.
Late last year, Stellantis vowed to replenish its Italian plants with new models as part of efforts torepair relationswith the government following the tenure of former CEO Carlos Tavares, who had pushed to move production to cheaper countries such as Morocco.
But the company has been forced to temporarily shut down several sites this month amid lackluster demand for some models in Europe, causing repercussions on local suppliers.
Filosa also told Italy’s union representatives that Automotive Cells Company SE, whose shareholders include Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz Group AG, will make a decision on whether to go ahead with an EV battery plant on a site in Termoli on the eastern coast of Italy before year end.
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Filosa has alreadyscrappedsome European investments andvowedto invest $13 billion in the U.S., a critical market, over the next four years, further adding to European unions worries.
The Stellantis CEO “described a worrying picture with regards to Europe,”Ferdinando Uliano, secretary general of the FIM-CISL union, told reporters after the meeting. While the extra hires in Mirafiori are good news, more investment will be needed to bring back Italy’s production from the current critical levels, Uliano added.
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