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Production at carmaker Stellantis’ plants in Italy fell by almost 40 per cent in 2024, the lowest level since the 1950s, according to figures releases by trade union FIM-CISL.
The group, which was formed by a merger in 2021 between Fiat-Chrysler and France’s PSA-Peugeot and whose single largest shareholder is Italy’s billionaire Agnelli family, made 475,090 vehicles in Italy last year. The figures mark a significant drop on 2023’s just over 750,000 units.
Like other large European carmakers, Stellantis’ revenues have been hit by weak demand, Chinese competition on mass market models and regulatory uncertainty around electric vehicles. The group issued a profit warning in the autumn and last month its chief executive Carlos Tavares left abruptly.
John Elkann, the company’s chair, is leading a search for a new CEO, whose main task will be to resolve production problems in Europe and tackle issues in the US, where high inventory levels forced the group to review its profit guidance for 2024.
Stellantis furloughed thousands of Italian workers last year amid waning demand. The union figures showed that production at its main Mirafiori plant in Turin was down as much 70 per cent.
The carmaker said last month after Tavares’ exit it was committed to producing 1mn vehicles in Italy by 2030. It reiterated its €2bn investment plan this year across both commercial vehicles and cars.
FIM-CISL’s figures showed passenger car production plunged 46 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year, while commercial vehicles output was down 17 per cent.
The union said it would join a protest in Brussels next month against the EU’s plan to ban combustion engines by 2035, arguing that the ban would take a serious toll on the industry.
The numbers came as Stellantis and German rival Volkswagen lost access to some US tax credits linked to their plug-in hybrid cars as tougher rules came into force this week as part of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Stellantis shares were down 3.8 per cent while VW shares were down 0.8 per cent.
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