According to Reuters, on July 8, the Italian automotive industry federation (FIM-CISL) said that if the Italian government’s recently launched car purchase incentives can not boost demand, especially electric vehicle demand, car maker Stellantis this year’s car production in Italy may fall by about one-third.
Stellantis’ production in Italy this year could fall to just over 500,000 units from 751,000 units last year, well below the target of 1 million annual units by 2030 that Stellantis and the Italian government are discussing, FIM-CISL said.
Earlier this year, the Italian government announced it would launch a new incentive program to encourage the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as less-polluting gasoline cars. It wasn’t until last month that the Italian government rolled out the measures.
Ferdinando Uliano, head of FIM-CISL, said the policies “have not yet had a clear impact on production” when he released Stellantis’ quarterly production figures. It showed that Stellantis production in Italy fell 25 percent to 303,510 units (including passenger cars and vans) in the first half of the year. “If the incentives don’t make a difference, by the end of this year we are likely to achieve only half of our annual target of 1 million units.”
On the same day, Stellantis also said that the difficult market situation in Italy and Europe had had a negative impact on production in Italy, particularly for electric vehicles, but the company confirmed that it had reached a “common goal” with the Italian government to reach one million vehicles in Italy by 2030. “However, we need to overcome the uncertainty associated with the electrification process, as well as the need for demand to be more stable as well.”
Uliano noted that Stellantis’ Italian production decline in the first half of the year was partly due to a high base in the same period last year. At the time, Stellantis was just recovering from the previous year’s production losses, and Uliano believes that several new vehicles that Stellantis plans to put into production at its Melfi plant in southern Italy could boost the company’s output in Italy.
From next year through 2026, Stellantis plans to begin production at the Melfi plant of five midsize vehicles from brands such as Jeep and Lancia, including a new DS vehicle that will begin production in the first quarter of 2025.