Italy’s Minister of Industry Adolfo Urso is putting pressure on Stellantis to build a battery plant in the country or risk losing funding.
Minister Urso wants Stellantis to confirm its plans to build a battery plant in Italy with ACC. If the legacy automaker does not respond, the Minister threatened to withdraw the subsidies allocated to the project.
“It is the duty of [Stellantis]… to relaunch the car industry in Italy today. And we have been waiting for these answers for far, far too long,” said Urso during an event in Rimini.
Stellantis had formed a joint venture with ACC to convert the automaker’s engine manufacturing plant in Termoli into a battery production facility. The Termoli factory was expected to start operating by 2026, reported Reuters.
However, Stellantis and ACC put its plans on hold in Italy earlier this year. The joint venture has switched gears and is focusing on batteries that cost less. On Thursday, August 22, 2024, Stellantis announced that ACC was “enhancing” plans for the Termoli plant “to introduce a new technology for the production of cells and modules, to be in line with the evolution of the market.”
Around $2.2 billion in investments was expected to go toward the Termoli battery plant. The Italian government was expected to contribute $410+ million to Stellantis and ACC’s new facility. Italy’s contribution came from public money, specifically from the EU’s post-COVID recovery fund.
According to Minister Urso, the Italian government has consented to Stellantis’ requests, including the company’s proposal to put more money into a publicly-funded purchase bonus. Politico adds that the Italian government also opposed the EU’s new car pollution rules, called the Euro 7, at Stellentis’ behest.
Stellantis’ operations in North America are also facing issues. Stellatnis CEO Carlos Tavares is spending three days in Detroit during his summer break to restrategize and improve operations in the United States.
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