(Finance) – Due to the “persistent situation of uncertainty in the sales of electric cars in various European markets which represent 97% of Mirafiori’s production and of cars in the luxury sector in some non-European countries such as China and the United States” Stellantis has announced that it will suspend the activity of the body shops at the Mirafiori complex from 2 to 17 Decemberwhich will be followed by the collective closure of the entire plant – already previously foreseen on the basis of union agreements for the end-of-year holidays – from 18 December to 5 January and then reopening on 8 January. This is what the group explained in a communication to the trade unions.
The Bev city car segment in Europe in the first 10 months of the year it was reduced by 54% compared to the same period in 2023 and, at the same time in Italy, the BEV mix is at very low levels around 4%. This – he continues Stellantis – is not sufficient to maintain continuity in production. In this scenario the choice to produce the new 500 hybrid in Mirafiori is consistent with the social responsibility of the Brand. In a European context characterized by declining demand, overcapacity and the need for reconversion indicated by legislation, in addition to Asian competition, Stellantis makes it known that it is “firmly committed to ensuring the continuity of all its plants and activities” and that we are “working hard to best manage and achieve this crucial phase of the transition towards the adaptation and adoption of new technological platforms”.
The Company – we read in the note – “continues to implement all the tools offered by current legislation, with the aim of reducing the impact of the transition on manpower needs as much as possible. For this reason it is necessary to also ensure for the next year the redundancy fund to which we, like all companies, contribute.”
The stop concerns only the body shops and not the rest of the Mirafiori complex – specifies the group – where, it recalls, “there are five factories and administrative offices of various sizes, with around 13 thousand people overall” https://www.Finance.it/DettaglioNews/175_2024-11-27_TLB/.”Mirafiori – explains Stellantis – is experiencing a profound transformation, towards a true hub of innovation and development at a global level, a crucial choice to overcome the challenge of the transition towards sustainable mobility to which we are called. A vision that envisages a process of investments in the Turin district and in the Italian automotive industry, aimed at the creation of the Mirafiori Automotive Park 2030, which has global technological excellence within it, including the production of electrified double clutch transmissions (eDCT) , the Circular Economy Plant and the Battery Technology Center. Stellantis is alongside all its people in this turbulent moment, with the aim of ensuring continuity and growth, confirming Italy’s role as one of the global pillars of the Group. It is a demanding path, which does not spare difficult choices and does not offer solutions within reach, but requires unity of purpose and vision, concludes the company, necessary to accompany this great company, together with the entire Italian ecosystem, in the future”.
Words that were not well received by the unions. “As we had predicted, the use of social safety nets continues exponentially. We are faced with another very long production stop lasting an entire month, which we think could be further extended subsequently with 2025 which promises to be another terrible year and it will be the eighteenth consecutive year in which social safety nets are used – they declared Edi Lazzi, general secretary of the Fiom CGIL of TurinAnd Gianni Mannori, Fiom manager of Mirafiori, with a note regarding Stellantis’ announcement of the new suspension of body shop activities at the Mirafiori plants. “We are astonished to read – they add – that the managers of Stellantis declare that unity of intent and vision is needed, when in reality there is no type of discussion and negotiation with the workers’ representatives. Let us then look for this unity of intent, with a real comparison aimed at bringing further investments to Turin and Mirafiori useful to put an end to this redundancy fund which is economically exhausting workers”. According to Samuele Lodi, Fiom-Cgil national secretary and automotive manager, “while on the one hand the Government cuts resources to the automotive fund, and then asks Europe to set up a fund for the transition of the car, on the other hand, Stellantis continues to not give any production and employment guarantees and to communicate the continuous closures in the layoffs. In Mirafiori, production will end on December 2nd and will only resume on January 8th. The situation is now dramatic . The Prime Minister must convene the parties at Palazzo Chigi – is the appeal -: the automotive sector risks disappearing in our country. We will not stop and we will continue until we convene ourselves at Palazzo Chigi”.