Italy urges Stellantis to take action. Either build a battery factory or lose 370 million in European COVID money.
At Stellantis, everything goes…erm…exactly as you would expect actually. The group is of course a gigantic group with a lot of brands that do not add that much or do not sell anything. In the first category, for example, brands like Peugeot and Opel. In the second category, brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Managers always find it interesting to merge so many brands in search of synergy. But in practice, it has been shown several times that it does not work that way.
At Stellantis, profits have also been halved. The Italian government intervenes regularly. For example, by not allowing cars to be given Italian names if they are not made there. But also by wanting to sell brands to the Chinese, who would then be prepared to build cars in Italy.
Once again, Stellantis is now at odds with the government, namely with the Minister of Industry Adolfo Urso. It so happens that Stellantis has been promised 370 million euros from the post-COVID-19 recovery fund from the EU. In return, it would build three battery factories in Europe, including one in Italy.
With such a mountain of free money you can take some risks you would think. But Stellantis does not seem so keen on the investment anymore due to the uncertainty/weakness of the demand for EVs. The Italian factory would be located in Termoli, but Stellantis would rather continue to build hybrid powertrains there. Urso is not to talk about that:
Stellantis must give us a reply, and it must do so shortly. If Stellantis does not give us a positive feedback within hours, we’ll move funds elsewhere. We can’t afford to lose these funds because Stellantis is not sticking to its commitments. The ministry has been waiting for answers from Stellantis for too long, and while the government did its part, the company did not.
Adolfo Urso, is done with Stellantis
Usually, with these mega funds, companies from countries can sign up to grab a piece of the trough. But if they don’t, the opportunity will pass. The Italian minister is clearly concerned that if Stellantis doesn’t follow through, other companies won’t be able to get their hands on the free money either.
It also signals that large concerns really don’t want EVs anymore. Even if they get 370 million more, they still don’t want to invest. Whereof note.
This article Italy to Stellantis: “Build a battery factory or lose 370 million free money” first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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