It’s the end of an era: the Maserati insignia has been removed from the historian Grugliasco factory which, until a few months ago, was the production site of some Maserati models. The plant, for years a point of reference for the production activities of the automotive sector in Italy, was hit by cuts by Stellantis which, after the merger between FCA and PSA, began transferring its activities to the nearby plant in Mirafiori. What was supposed to be the luxury hub, imagined by Marchionne about 15 years ago, is today an area in great difficulty. The future of Grugliasco, after Stellantis’ farewell, is still to be written.
A sad farewell
This week, approximately five months after the last work shift, the Maserati signs still present in the Grugliasco plant were removed. This is the last step in the program with which Stellantis abandoned the Turin production site, one of the most important production plants in Italy for the automotive world, at least until a few years ago. The factory dates back, in fact, to 1959 with the construction of a production plant by the Car body Bertone. Over the decades, the factory has hosted the production of various models, some under the Fiat brand and others from foreign manufacturers, such as Opel, BMW (for scooters) and Volvo. Subsequently, in 2009, the plant passed to Group Fiat and, therefore, to FCA, with the new name Avvocato Gianni Agnelli Plant. The project was to create the “luxury hub“, based on the range development idea carried out by Sergio Marchionne. The company, therefore, brought the production of Maserati models to Grugliasco as well as to Mirafiori.
Thus, the factory went into production Maserati Quattroporte and the Maserati Ghibli, reference models of the Trident for years, before the new electric breakthrough. The poor results obtained and the need to optimize production resources pushed the Group Stellantisborn from the merger between FCA and PSA, a close the factorymoving the production lines and workers to the nearby Mirafiori plant which today continues to have to deal with reduced production and with the use of social safety nets. The last work shift in the plant took place on December 22, 2023. The entire plant, now abandoned and deprived of all production activities, is now for sale, looking for a new future. For the moment, however, there appear to be no concrete plans for the site.
A symbol of the automotive industry in Italy
The current situation of the former Bertone and Maserati plant in Grugliasco is a true symbol ofcurrent state of the Italian automotive world, struggling with reduced production levels for several years now. Everything revolves around the projects of Stellantis, which seems increasingly oriented towards producing a smaller number of models, thus reducing the workforce in the country and focusing on agreements with Chinese manufacturers. Furthermore, for the moment, Italy does not seem to be able to attract new investors to give new impetus to the Italian automotive sector. The present of Grugliasco, therefore, could be the future of other production sites in the country.
