Stellantis to hike Italy output this year thanks to new models, Europe chief says

By Valentina Za

MILAN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Stellantis STLAM.MI is preparing to increase production at several plants across Italy this year with the introduction of new models, a top executive said, in line with the carmaker's commitment to the government to protect local manufacturing.

Stellantis Europe head Emanuele Cappellano outlined production plans for various plants across Italy during a meeting with Industry Minister Adolfo Urso on Friday.

The company's production in Italy declined by a fifth last year, with passenger cars down by a quarter year-on-year to the lowest level since 1954, the FIM Cisl trade union said in early January.

The crisis in the car sector has put hundreds of Stellantis workers on state funded furlough schemes in Italy, with declining output at the automaker weighing on the country's automotive supply chain — an important sector for the domestic economy — and straining relations with Rome.

In December 2024, the company unveiled an investment plan for Italy pledging to keep all of its local plants open.

In 2026, Stellantis is committed to maintaining the level of last year's purchases from Italian suppliers worth more than 7 billion euros ($8.3 billion), Cappellano said at the meeting, according to a Stellantis spokesperson.

At Melfi, production has already begun of the new DS 8 and Jeep Compass, Cappellano said, with the plant resuming a second production shift in the coming weeks.

The group will start building another DS model at Melfi in 2026, followed later in the year by the new Lancia Gamma, both in electric and hybrid versions, he said.

A further new model is scheduled to enter production at the plant by 2028.

The company is also expanding activity at Atessa, where it will partially restore a third production shift in the coming days, allowing for an additional 200 light commercial vehicles per day to be built at the facility.

Stellantis will hire more than 400 workers at its Mirafiori plant this year, part of a total 500 new recruits planned in Italy, as it prepares to start a second production shift for the new Fiat 500 hybrid, Cappellano said.

Meanwhile at Termoli, Stellantis confirmed continued investment in 'GSE' petrol engines, adapted to meet Euro 7 emissions rules for use beyond 2030, alongside the arrival of a new e-DCT gearbox line, ensuring operational continuity regardless of future decisions on battery gigafactory investments.

($1 = 0.8391 euros)