MILAN (Reuters) – Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said a production target of one million vehicles in Italy it is discussing with Rome was well within reach but it could not be a one-sided commitment and the government must support it.
Tavares this month met Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso with both sides agreeing on an aim to increase annual automotive output in the country, although without specifying a time frame.
“We are not afraid of the one million mark,” Tavares told reporters in a post-earnings roundtable.
“Do we have the manufacturing capacity to achieve that? Yes, we have. Can we supply the electric powertrains, the batteries, the electric motors, the electrified transmissions? Yes, we can,” he said.
“But let’s not forget that it always (depends on) the size of the market”.
Stellantis, the parent of brands including Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, is Italy’s sole large automaker and produced fewer than 700,000 vehicles in the country both last year and in 2021, including vans, as it was hit by a global shortage of microchips and other components.
According to some forecasts its output in Italy will likely rise to over 800,000 units this year. Fiat Chrysler, which merged with France’s PSA in early 2021 to create Stellantis, last produced over one million vehicles in Italy back in 2017.
Tavares said that setting a timeline for the one million goal depended on several factors that need to be decided at a state level, including regulation, supporting the use of cars and their affordability, as well as the cost of energy.
“It cannot be only on the commitments of Stellantis. It has to be on the commitments of the country,” the CEO said, adding discussions with Rome were “constructive” and that an agreement could be reached in the next few weeks.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir)
