Italy must be key part of Stellantis’ plans, industry minister says

ROME (Reuters) – Italy expects to be a central part of Stellantis (NYSE:)’ future strategy and wants the Fiat (BIT:) automaker to safeguard the factories on its territory, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Saturday.

“There must be an assertive Italy plan within Stellantis’ industrial plan that protects national factories,” Urso told an event in Rome ahead of a key meeting on the Italian automotive industry on Dec. 17, also involving trade unions.

After the abrupt resignation of Carlos Tavares as CEO earlier this month, Rome hopes to fix its strained relations with the carmaker, whose brands also include Alfa Romeo.

Italian politicians repeatedly accused Tavares of neglecting historic manufacturing sites and moving production abroad.

“There’s no more Tavares, he didn’t understand the reality,” Urso told an event of his Brothers of Italy party.

He said they understood that things had changed when Stellantis Chairman John Elkann called Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to inform her of the CEO’s departure.

Urso said the government wanted Stellantis to pledge “significant financial resources” to ensure Italy kept a competitive auto industry.

Giuseppe Manca, the head of human resources and industrial relations for Stellantis in Italy, joined Urso on the panel dedicated to the auto sector and said he hoped “good news” could come out of the meeting planned for Tuesday.