For months now, the Stellantis plant in Kragujevac, Serbia, has been at the heart of an industrial and social soap opera that goes far beyond the borders of the automotive industry. This is where the new Fiat Grande Pandathe popular electric and hybrid car of the future. Fiatis produced. Behind the first deliveries, however, output is still well below target: 150 to 180 vehicles leave the plant every day, far short of the 500 targeted. And the reasons are no longer a secret: Stellantis is struggling to recruit and retain local workers.
Wages too low to convince Serbs
The average worker in Kragujevac earns 70,000 dinars (€597) a month, slightly above the Serbian minimum wage, but a far cry from the national average of €920. With Saturday shifts, some workers reach €768, but at the cost of long working hours. A glaring discrepancy when compared with the Italians sent to reinforce the team last spring, who were paid close to €100 a day. As a result, many Serbs leave the factory after just a few days. "People don't want to work for this wage because they can't survive on it," sums up Jugoslav Ristić, a former union leader.
Foreign workers to fill the gaps
In the absence of local candidates, Stellantis began recruiting beyond the Balkans. After rumors on the arrival of Nepalese workersMilano Finanza confirms that 100 Moroccan workers are now in production in Kragujevac, to enable the launch of the third shift on the Grande Panda lines. They receive around €1,000 a month, a mixture of Moroccan basic salary (€300) and travel allowance (€700). Significantly more than the Serbian workers... but far less than in the Group's other European plants.
Growing hostility in Serbia
This is where the situation gets complicated. For while Serbs refuse to work for €600 a month, many take a very dim view of the arrival of foreign workers accepting these conditions. In a country already marked by recurrent demonstrations against President Aleksandar Vučić, social anger is taking a nationalist turn. "Serbs do not accept such wages, but at the same time they are very hostile to the arrival of foreigners who come to accept them", report sources inside the factory.
For Stellantis, the stakes are high: to relaunch a site that has been at a standstill since the Fiat 500L, and to successfully ramp up production of a strategic model for its affordable range. But the low-cost labor strategy inherited from the Tavares era and pursued by new boss Antonio Filosa is likely to fuel an explosive social climate. According to several sources, this is just the beginning: up to 800 foreign workers could soon be recruited, notably from the Maghreb and possibly Algeria, not only to supply Kragujevac, but also to prepare the ramp-up of the Orano plant in Algeria, which will produce the Grande Panda from 2026.
English 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
German 
Japanese 
Turkish 
Dutch
You'd have to wonder, could this get any worse for Stellantis (yes, probably). The big relaunch car for Fiat being absolutely hammered by constant issues with plant, employees, wages. Way to go Stellantis, you're playing a blinder!
Me parece normal que lo critiquen....no cómo aquí en España que vienen a devaluarnos trabajos que antesían exigulación....y aquí todos contentos.....menos yo
Hallo Stellantis, hallo Fiat, warum soll Serbien Fremdarbeiter in dieser Vielzahl akzeptieren, wenn doch die Arbeitslosigkeit im eigenen Land sehr hoch ist!? Und warum wird dieses Modell, das sehr wichtig für die Zukunft Fiat ist, nicht in Italien gebaut, wo es bessere Produktionsbedienungen gibt, wieder Wohlstand für die Italienischen Arbeiter herbeiführt und die Marke "Made in Italy", wieder zu einem großartigen Produkt macht, was es einst war. Aber bitte gleich mit richtigen italienischen Motoren, dann wird das zu einem Verkaufserfolg führen!
Lg aus Wien
Yesii, but the Serbians can't keep up with the pace as a result of more than six months' waiting before delivery of the vehicle ordered in March, scheduled for September and perhaps October or November, according to the Fiat Le Mans agent.
So they'll pay 1000 EUR for foreign workers but not for local ones? I'm not seeing the logic here. How can you expect to run a modern production facility by paying minimum wage?
It's really ridiculous... We used to blame everything on Tavares, but we have to admit that things haven't got any better since he left. The old European social democracy is destroying our industrial capacities.
Como de costumbre el gringo elkann otra vez esta actuando como un miserable esclavista pagando salarios de hambre para obtener muy altos profictos . El gringo esta decidido a destruir lo que construyo su abuelo el abogado Agnelli que se estara revolcando en su tumba a causa de tanttos desastres economicos y morales. Ya la fiat no es italiana,mas bien francesa con oficinas en olanda y ha pasado a ser una marca secundaria en Italia ademas de haber cerrado casi todas las fabricas italianas con sus relativos despidos de trabajadores 7italianos. Si yo fuera el gob serbio exigiia explicaciones y garantias al susodico elkann.
Me parece una vergüenza que traten de llevar a gente no cualificada de otros países reduciendo los salarios y devaluando el oficio....
Aquí en España es lo que sucede.....y deberiamos pararlo ya
No es racismo ,es proteger nuestros derechos y no dar ventajas a los extranjeros