Stellantis has announced that it will retool its Central Italian Cassino production facility, which currently produces Alfa Romeo and Maserati vehicles.
While many Stellantis brands have fallen behind competitors in electrification, the multinational auto group is determined to change that with a 30 billion euro ($31.74 billion) investment into electric vehicle production being put in place by the end of 2025. One location where that investment is being used is at Stellantis’ historic Cassino, Italy production facility, which will now be retooled to produce the STLA Large EV platform.
STLA Large is one of four EV platforms Stellantis has planned to introduce over the coming years, and it is designed to push the limits of performance and range. Fitted with a 101-118kWh battery, the upcoming platform is capable of 500 miles (800 kilometers) of range and could easily find its way into luxury vehicles from Maserati and Alfa Romeo, brands that are already produced at the Italian plant.
“The Cassino plant has a rich history of innovation and technology,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “The vehicles we are designing on the STLA platforms will revolutionize the driving experience with cutting-edge features and capabilities, so we trust the skilled workers and the Stellantis site management to master our bold cost and quality targets. The support of our workforce in Cassino and the foresight of local and national officials further electrify our efforts to delight customers with clean, safe, and affordable mobility.”
Stellantis didn’t specify how much this retooling effort would cost, but the upcoming STLA Large platform will hit production sometime in 2025. The forthcoming EV platform will also be manufactured at the Windsor, Canada, Stellantis plant, likely feeding American Stellantis brands like Dodge, Jeep, and RAM.
Maserati has already begun producing and selling EVs, with its first EV being launched just last year, the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore. However, the same cannot be said for Alfa Romeo, which has instead launched its first hybridized vehicle, the Alfa Romeo Tonale.
As both luxury brands move towards introducing more EVs as part of the Stellantis “Dare Forward 2030” plan, this retooled facility will be crucial to meeting customer demand. However, with increasing competition, particularly in luxury vehicles, these iconic Italian brands must work hard to define themselves in the crowded market.
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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) had coverage initiated on it by a new firm this week, and analysts said that the company’s comfort level with taking risks makes it a “must own” for investors.
Melius Research and analyst Rob Wertheimer initiated coverage of the stock this week with a $520 price target and a “Buy” rating. The price target is about 20 percent higher than the current trading price as shares closed at $435 on Wednesday, up 1.38 percent on the day.
Wertheimer said in the note to investors that introduced their opinion on Tesla shares that the company has a lot going for it, including a prowess in AI, domination in its automotive division, and an incredible expertise in manufacturing and supply chain.
He wrote:
“We see Tesla shares as a must-own. The disruptive force of AI will wreck multitrillion-dollar industries, starting with auto. Under Musk’s leadership, the company is comfortable taking risks. It has manufacturing scale and supply chain expertise that robotics startups possess more by proxy. It can rapidly improve and scale autonomy in driving, the first major manifestation of AI in the physical world.”
However, there were some drawbacks to the stock, according to Wertheimer, including its valuation, which he believes is “challenging” given its fundamentals. He said the $1 trillion market cap that the company represented was “guesswork,” and not necessarily something that could be outlined on paper.
This has been discussed by other analysts in the past, too. Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeff Sonnenfeld recently called Tesla the “biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen,” by stating:
“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”
Additionally, J.P. Morgan’s Ryan Brinkman said:
“Tesla shares continue to strike us as having become completely divorced from the fundamentals.”
Some analysts covering Tesla have said they believe the stock is traded on narrative and not necessarily fundamentals.
Tesla launched its fastest Full Self-Driving Speed Profile with the v14.1.2 Software Update on Wednesday, as “Mad Max” mode has overtaken “Hurry” as the most spirited travel option on FSD.
On Wednesday evening, Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, teased that the v14.1.2 Software Update would be released to those drivers in the Early Access Program (EAP). He said it was a “much-awaited feature.”
Tesla just teased something crazy with the next Full Self-Driving update
Many people, myself included, believed it would be the introduction of “Banish,” which would be a perfect complement to the Actually Smart Summon (ASS) suite, as it would find a parking spot and park itself after dropping you off at the front door of your destination.
However, Elluswamy’s post on X finished with two emojis: one a race car, the other being smoke behind the car.
FSD v14.1.2, going to early access today, will debut a much awaited feature 🏎️💨
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 15, 2025
On Wednesday night, we received the v14.1.2 software update to the new Model Y, which revealed that “Mad Max” mode was the new addition:
BREAKING: Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.1.2 is here!
MAD MAX MODE is here! pic.twitter.com/AKM2VwxiXV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 16, 2025
The release notes state that:
“Introduced new speed profile MAD MAX, which comes with higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than Hurry.”
It is pretty interesting that Tesla would introduce yet another speed profile that is even faster and more aggressive than “Hurry.” Personally, I’ve found Hurry to be realistic in terms of other drivers and their aggressiveness, speed of travel, and overall lane change behavior, especially on interstates.
Mad Max mode will be an interesting adjustment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk first talked about Mad Max mode back in 2018 in posts on X, first mentioning the feature with the Tesla Semi:
It’s real pic.twitter.com/L9h3F86Guo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2018
Musk then teased Mad Max mode in 2019 with an early Autopilot update, stating that it would be an ideal option for aggressive traffic seen in places like Los Angeles. There was formerly a mode of the same name back in the late 2010s:
Are you on Mad Max Mode? This may be too meek for places like the LA Freeway …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 6, 2019
Now that it’s here, we’ll be testing it very soon and giving you a good idea of what to expect when it releases to others in the coming weeks.
Update 9:56 p.m. ET: We got it…
Tesla launches ‘Mad Max’ Full Self-Driving Speed Profile, its fastest yet
Tesla just teased something crazy with the next Full Self-Driving update, which will be released to Early Access Program (EAP) members today.
Tesla just recently released the v14 Full Self-Driving update, and it followed up just a few days later with v14.1.1.
The subsequent release helped refine a handful of things, especially an issue with stuttering at intersections and overall indecisiveness, but it was more of a smoothing over of the initial v14.1 Full Self-Driving release.
However, on Wednesday evening, Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said that the company would be releasing v14.1.2 to EAP members today, and that it would “debut a much-awaited feature.”
He followed that up with a racecar emoji and a smoke emoji, potentially hinting toward something speed-related. However, it could mean something totally different.
FSD v14.1.2, going to early access today, will debut a much awaited feature 🏎️💨
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) October 15, 2025
Some suggested it was potentially a new Speed Profile that could rank above the “Hurry” option, but that seems unnecessary. As far as other features that have been teased, one that definitely comes to mind is the “Banish” feature that was recently teased by CEO Elon Musk.
Banish is essentially the finishing touch to Tesla’s Actually Smart Summon (ASS), which launched earlier this year.
While ASS will bring your car to your location using the Tesla app on your phone, Banish does just the opposite by dropping you off at the door of your destination and finding a parking spot on its own.
Elon Musk teases ‘Banish’ feature to pair perfectly with Summon
This was recently teased by Musk yet again, as he said earlier this month that Full Self-Driving would be capable of it very soon.
Based on what we’ve seen out of v14.1 and v14.1.1, there is some potential that Banish could be released and could be the feature that Elluswamy is hinting toward, although there is no direct evidence of that.
Luckily, I was able to get into the EAP, so as the feature is released and the Release Notes are available, we’ll be able to report on exactly what feature is on the way.
Tesla’s comfort level taking risks makes the stock a ‘must own,’ firm says
Tesla launches ‘Mad Max’ Full Self-Driving Speed Profile, its fastest yet
Tesla just teased something crazy with the next Full Self-Driving update
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