In recent months, the Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been embroiled in a widening series of conflicts with Stellantis, the heir to iconic Italian carmaker Fiat, over underinvestment in Italy, according to Politico.
Stellantis, which owns a dozen brands, from Alfa Romeo and Maserati to Peugeot, Citroën, and Jeep, has long been at the core of Meloni’s concerns.
When she was an opposition MP, she was one of the fiercest opponents of the Franco-Italian merger between Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot manufacturer PSA that gave birth to Stellantis in 2021. At the time, Meloni warned that the deal would fuel Franco-Italian economic rivalry.
Now the prime minister, in the name of economic patriotism, is forcing the company to change the name of a new Alfa Romeo model produced in Poland and remove Italian flags from city cars made in Morocco. Even though much of its cars are manufactured outside Italy, Stellantis is now the only major carmaker left in the country.
You need to have the courage to criticise decision made by the owner and the management of [Stellantis] when they are at odds with Italian interests.
Stellantis owns all of Italy’s iconic car brands except Ferrari, which is an independent company, and Lamborghini, which is now owned by Germany’s Audi. As tensions between the government and Stellantis heat up, Rome is now trying to persuade Chinese carmakers to open factories in the country.
The Meloni government and Stellantis have pledged to produce 1 million cars a year in the country. However, both the government and unions say Stellantis is not keeping its promise. According to the unions, production in Italy fell by more than 25 per cent in the first half of this year compared to 2023. Over the same period, the company’s net profit also almost halved year-on-year, from €10.9 billion to €5.6 billion.
Economic standoff
In addition to criticising Stellantis for its lack of investment in Italy, Rome has now banned the company from displaying its Italian lineage when manufacturing abroad. In the spring, Italy’s customs and finance police seized 134 Fiat Topolinos, a new electric urban vehicle produced by Stellantis in Morocco, because it bore an Italian flag sticker that Italian authorities believed could mislead buyers about the car’s origins.
In June, an Italian judge tentatively ruled that even the model names – Topolino and Topolino Dolcevita – wrongly suggested the car was made in Italy, as they were references to the iconic old Fiat model and the legendary Federico Fellini’s film.
Earlier this year, Rome banned Stellantis from naming a new Alfa Romeo model made in Poland, Milano, arguing that it would be illegal to give the name of a northern Italian city to a car made abroad. Stellantis eventually changed the name to Junior.
The tension with Stellantis intensifies attention to Meloni’s courtship of China. During her first trip to Beijing in late July, Meloni signed several co-operation agreements with China, including on electric vehicles.
The government may also consider transferring some historic Italian brands, including Autobianchi and Innocenti, currently owned by Stellantis, to Chinese carmakers, according to Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore. The transfer will be possible due to a recent decree allowing Italian authorities to take control of iconic brands that have been unused for more than five years.
