ROME — Fiat mother or father Stellantis and the Italian authorities agreed on Monday to purpose to extend annual manufacturing in Italy to 1 million items, reversing a downward pattern seen in current yr

Stellantis constructed fewer than 700,000 autos within the nation final yr and in 2021, because it was hit by a worldwide scarcity of microchips and different elements.

The automaker stated on Monday that it plans so as to add manufacturing of a fifth mannequin at its Melfi plant in southern Italy along with the 4 already introduced.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares had met Italy’s Business Minister Adolfo Urso in Rome earlier on Monday and so they agreed on the necessity to enhance automobile output within the nation, dwelling to different Stellantis manufacturers together with Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

Based on the FIM-CISL union, Stellantis output in Italy will possible rise to round 800,000 items this yr. Fiat Chrysler, which merged with France’s PSA in 2021 to create Stellantis, final produced over a million autos in Italy in 2017.

“I am assured that … we are going to create the situation to first reverse the downward pattern in manufacturing volumes within the two coming years after which construct collectively the roadmap to provide a million autos in Italy,” Tavares stated in an announcement.

The plan would take a number of elements under consideration, together with market forecasts, automobile affordability, affect of Euro 7 emissions regulation and incentives to help Italy’s competitiveness corresponding to on vitality prices, Stellantis stated.

Fifth mannequin

Stellantis didn’t say which mannequin Melfi’s fifth automobile could be. A provider supply advised Automotive Information Europe that it could possibly be the successor of the Jeep Compass, which is presently in-built Melfi with combustion engine powertrains together with a plug-in hybrid.

The fashions produced in Melfi “shall be high-value premium fashions constructed on the brand new STLA-M platform introduced final week,” Stellantis stated in its assertion.

The STLA-M platform will underpin at the very least 2 million EVs a yr throughout the group’s Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Chrysler, DS, Jeep, Opel and Peugeot manufacturers, beginning with the Peugeot 3008 SUV this yr.

Stellantis says the platform is “BEV by design” and can provide a variety of as much as 700 km (435 miles).

The 4 different fashions deliberate for Melfi are two for DS Vehicles, one for Opel/Vauxhall and one for Lancia.

Automotive Information Europe contributed to this report