The Italian government is thinking of attracting Chinese car manufacturers to the peninsula for a possible production plant. Relations with Stellantis are not exactly idyllic, as is known, so the executive led by Giorgia Meloni evaluates alternative hypotheses, with all due respect to the group born from the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Groupe in 2021.
For some time now the country seems to have lost its attractiveness in the eyes of the Italian-French-American conglomerate, whose major electricity production is now concentrated in France. As far as Italian territory is concerned, production continues, and is even higher than its transalpine counterpart, but many fear that its days are numbered. Because the prevalence of models built continues to have thermal or at most hybrid engines.
The opening of Dongfeng Motor
The Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, had issued a warning to his counterpart: either he would give encouraging signals or they would examine alternative hypotheses. In faith of this, discussions have started together with the Chinese giant Dongfeng Motorwith the idea of convincing him to build a new factory in the Bel Paese. With a capacity of 100,000 units per year, the facility is expected to mostly focus on hybrid vehicles.
Dongfeng considers the country an important hub for the Old Continent, capitalizing on the local automotive heritage. The discussions undertaken remain in a preliminary phase, but the contacts made so far have brought positive feedback.
On the sidelines of an event for Voyah, the new Dongfeng brand, organized in Milan, the head of European operations, Qian Xie, made an opening: “Italy is one of the largest European automotive markets and for a Chinese car manufacturer having local production means being able to supply all the other countries in the area”.
However, he also wanted to cool the easy enthusiasm: “Discussions with the Italian Government are at an initial stage: they want to establish a relationship of trust and then deepen it. Italy is very interesting for its long automotive culture, as well as for the availability of ports (to and from which to transport finished products and components)”. The talks are progressing and the Government will soon propose areas where the plant can be located.
Heavy decline in petrol cars
In the recent period, the decline in demand for petrol cars in China has had an impact on Dongfeng. After reaching its peak in 2017 with 2.83 million registrations, registrations suffered a heavy contraction last year, equal to 38%. While the Milanese city is full of events, from Design Week to the Fuorisalone 2024, the newborn Voyah is starting to set foot in Italy through a series of initiatives.
Dongfeng carries out various collaborations with high-caliber manufacturers, such as Honda, Nissan and also two French brands of Stellantis (which through its CEO, Carlos Tavares, has already spoken on the matter), namely Peugeot and Citroen.
The qualified workforce and the solid manufacturing tradition, the reason for the high reputation abroad, justify the interest of one of the main manufacturers on a global scale. If the negotiations ended with a white smoke, and therefore the project actually came to fruition, it would remain to be discovered what Stellantis’ reaction would be.
Tags: Negotiations produce Chinese cars Italy
