The Meloni Government is in “advanced negotiations” with the Chinese car manufacturer Dongfeng for the construction of a production plant in our country that will act as a hub for the entire European market. This was reported today, Tuesday 6 August, by the press agency Reutersaccording to which the Italian State could participate in the operation by purchasing a minority stake in the new company that would control the factory. Furthermore, the agreement could involve Italian companies in the components sector as investors.
The negotiations with Dongfeng are being carried out by the Foreign Investment Attraction Unit of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. Last July, Minister Adolfo Urso was in Beijing, where he met with the top management of the Wuhan company, while last week Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the Chinese capital to sign a three-year agreement with Premier Li Qiang that also includes cooperation on the electric vehicle front.
For months, the Italian government has made no secret of its desire to attract investments from foreign car manufacturers. A path taken also in light of the frictions with Stellantis: in the plans of the multinational born from the merger between Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot, in fact, Italy seems to have an increasingly marginal role, as confirmed by the approximately 7 thousand incentivized exits in the last two years.
If it were to come to fruition, the agreement between Rome and Dongfeng would put an end to Fiat’s century-long hegemony over car production in our country and would represent a sort of bridge for the arrival on the European market of low-cost Chinese electric cars.
On this front, there are already some commercial agreements for the sale of Made in China vehicles. Stellantis itself has set up a joint venture with the manufacturer Leapmotor to sell the latter’s cars in former Fiat dealerships. As for Dongfeng, instead, among the partners of Df Italia – the company that will be responsible for marketing the vehicles of the Wuhan manufacturer – there is also Paolo Berlusconi, brother of the former prime minister.
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