Stellantis Italy output falls 37% in 2024, automobile manufacturing hits 68-year low

MILAN (Reuters) -Automobile manufacturing by automobile maker Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) in Italy fell by 37% final yr, hit particularly by a steep plunge in automobile manufacturing, union figures confirmed on Friday.

To handle overcapacity in Italy, the group has relied closely on state-funded short-term layoff schemes. Stellantis in December offered a plan to spice up manufacturing, however a rise is barely anticipated from 2026 due to the launch of latest fashions.

The FIM-CISL union stated Stellantis, which was created in 2021 from the merger of Fiat (BIT:STLAM) Chrysler and France’s PSA-Peugeot, final yr manufactured 475,090 autos in Italy, down from 751,384 in 2023.

Manufacturing of vehicles particularly shrank by 46% to the bottom since 1956, whereas output of latest business autos fell 17%.

Stellantis was not instantly obtainable for remark.

Like its European friends, the world’s fourth-largest automobile maker is wrestling with weak demand, particularly for absolutely electrical autos, regulatory uncertainty and hard Chinese language competitors.

FIM-CISL stated it could be a part of a protest deliberate in Brussels by labour organisation IndustriALL Europe on Feb. 5, two weeks earlier than the European Fee presents its “clear industrial deal”.

The union’s chief Ferdinando Uliano stated it was essential to overview EU targets for autos’ carbon emissions discount as a result of kick in from 2025.

“It is a battle for Europe,” Uliano stated, talking in regards to the disaster going through the European automobile business. “Single nations can solely lose.”

Stellantis operates 5 automobile vegetation in Italy plus a facility for business autos.

Manufacturing on the group’s Mirafiori plant in Turin fell by 70% final yr. Solely the Maserati plant in Modena, the guts of Italy’s ‘motor valley’, carried out worse with a 79% drop.

“We’re very frightened about Maserati,” Uliano stated. “We count on rapidly a transparent and detailed challenge for Maserati.”

Stellantis in December pledged to speculate 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in Italy in 2025 to provide new fashions at a few of its vegetation within the nation.

($1 = 0.9709 euros)