Alexandre
It's a revelation that's shaken up the Italian automotive landscape, Stellantisthe Franco-Italian automotive giant, has put its plant up for sale. Maserati of Grugliasco, an emblematic site rich in automotive history and tradition.
Built in 1959 by legendary coachbuilder Bertone in Turin, the plant was taken over by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles under Sergio Marchionne in 2009. The reason? To relaunch production of the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte models. At its peak, the plant employed some 1,400 people, but the tide has turned with the announcement by Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, that he has decided in 2022 to rationalize Stellantis' space and prepare for the sale of the complex by 2024.
The Grugliasco site is not new to the real estate market, having already been offered to Chinese manufacturers and Italian company Dr Motors. However, these sales attempts were unsuccessful. With a deadline of the end of the year for the relocation of its equipment, the plant is about to be offered to the highest bidder. Divided into four lots covering a total surface area of 205,000 m², including 100,000 m² dedicated to production, the price remains, to date, on request.
Faced with this transition, the mayor of Grugliasco, Emanuele Gaito, took a firm stance. He insisted that the plant should retain its industrial vocation, reflecting the municipality's commitment to preserving the region's identity. "We hope the plant will remain in the automotive sector. says the mayor, pointing out that only manufacturing companies will be able to invest in this historic site.
This change is part of a broader Stellantis strategy that includes the transfer of its Grugliasco assembly line to the Mirafior planti, just four kilometers away. This decision is aimed at centralizing and optimizing manufacturing operations. Mirafiori, which already produces the electric Fiat 500, is set to become Stellantis' main electric vehicle hub in Italy. It has also been producing the Levante since 2016, the Ghibli and Quattroporte since 2022, and the new Granturismo since 2023. Yet this rationalization does not prevent Mirafiori plant to be shut down from time to time.
For employees at the Grugliasco plant, the future is secure since Their transfer to Mirafiori is scheduled for 2024, with no impact on employment, according to Stellantis.
While the automotive industry continues to evolve at a breathtaking pace, the sale of Maserati's Grugliasco plant marks the end of an era and the start of a new era for Stellantis and the city of Turin. It remains to be seen who will write the next chapter for this emblematic industrial site.
We're in the midst of a boom in Stellantis' bullshit and strategic errors, and they're keeping the factories in France and Germany, which cost an insane amount of money, but it doesn't matter. The more the months go by, the more we realize what a failure Stellantis is and what a headless merger it is. Even if Peugeot will never be a Premium brand and DS a profitable brand, it doesn't matter, we'll plunder FCA's resources by keeping Ram, Jeep and Dodge, and get rid of the rest. That's another reason why PSA is determined to establish itself in South America, in order to get rid of Fiat. There's no doubt about it: this is the end of the old Fiat group!
I am disgusted to have seen right and I would have preferred to be wrong and this could not be done without the agreement of Elkann who is a dunce next to his grandfather who must turn a thousand times in his grave!!!
If DS still doesn't make its mark, who cares? We'll sink the rest in the hope that one day it will, just to please the French government mafia.
Don't worry, fiat will never disappear, they're too smart to be absorbed, it's quite the opposite, it's not who's going to be eaten up as soon as it's contractually possible before 2030.
Right now we're seeing how future Italian products are a future disaster, so we can see who's destroying who!
You speak for yourself my dear, Italian products are worth more than those from your country 😂😂
When I see the future Panda, BSUV Alfa and the rest coming, you call these Italian products????🤫🤐
That's good news for Chinese carmakers, who will be able to 0asser the abolition of the French bonus and European taxes....
It would be worse than letting the wolf into the sheepfold, it would be like inviting him to the table.
That's exactly what I think, and we already know who's going to get their hands on it... it's called BYD!
In short, I'm totally disgusted and as long as there's Tavares... it's going to get worse by the month!!!!
For Ced! Exactly, DS will never be profitable and never Premium against foreign competitors.
500e is a hit in France and could even go 1st in its category if Stellantis wanted it to, but he doesn't want to because of the ego of managers and politicians who absolutely want Peugeots! But they're too busy in other major industrial fields, such as aeronautics, astronautics and the military! What's more, their top-of-the-range premium sports brands are as successful and profitable as ever! We're going to follow, but Fiat is certainly going to pay the price, just like Maserati. ...
Merci Thank you merci a vous et Tous
Exor's problem is that they're Winners in all the other areas in which they're established, and are gradually abandoning the non-Ferrari automotive sector, whereas when you see what happened to Maserati under the Ferrari umbrella, they should have gone on and made it independent once and for all, and placed Lancia under the Maserati umbrella and Alfa under the Ferrari umbrella... in short, it's absolutely essential to get these 3 brands out of the Stellantis fold as a matter of urgency. That's the absolute priority, before the disaster that's about to happen becomes irreparable.
Just look at the unanimous grumbling everywhere against the BSUV, and the future VAN Alfa.
We can't react to these complex issues with yesterday's or even today's reflexes. We need to be able to look ahead and anticipate as much as possible in a highly unpredictable context, where the automotive industry is facing challenges never seen before. Let's buy European cars rather than Chinese ones, it's responsible and more efficient than quibbling. By the way, what kind of car do you drive?
Cévé
First of all, we don't drive Chinese cars and secondly, your comments are a way of escaping the current reality by closing your eyes and believing that it's a foregone conclusion... which is completely untrue.
It's true that keeping plants in France and Germany, which are the most expensive in the group, and eliminating those that can be after modification, is seeing the future and the challenges that await them, and financially supporting a brand like DS that brings nothing to the table apart from worsening the group's finances since its creation. It's just a bit of patriotism that shows Peugeot's inordinate ego to please the French and German state. It prefers to continue investing millions in endurance racing for a project that's a total failure, and to continue next year when the brand has no right to be there.
You only have to look at the history of Simca and Citroën to understand how little Peugeot cares about the brands it buys out or merges with, because it's just a matter of stealing their distribution and implantation networks and getting rid of them as quickly as possible once they've got all their personal needs from them! Even as a supplier, they've been a disaster in more ways than one, as Prost can attest. If that's betting on the future, then we must not have the same definition of it.
It's a fact that evolving Euro standards, together with the progressive ban on internal combustion, plus the ZFEs, make it difficult to know what's going to happen in 5 or 10 years' time. The all-electric drive to which manufacturers are committed is a pipe dream, and it's strange to overlook hydrogen and synthetic fuels. We don't know where we're going, and one wonders if the automakers do?
What does the electrification of the entire Alfa Romeo range in 2027 mean? No more combustion engines on sale? Or both coexisting, with PHEV powertrains?
At the moment, customers are not following the electric system, because if you try it, you realize that it's not practical. So we have to find other solutions.
Stellantis, like any major automotive group, is looking to rationalize costs. But for sporty or luxury brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati, this just doesn't work. An Alfa Romeo can't be a rebadged Peugeot.
Stanislas!
If you look at the ZFE zones, almost every city is going backwards. When governments try to impose absurd rules, it's normal that manufacturers can't have a serene vision of the future, but they can't get rid of brands like DS, which are useless, or keep plants that aren't profitable in the long term, just to please politicians and make themselves look good... or throw money into sports like FE, which has no worldwide media outlet, and put Group brands in competition with each other (DS the ball and chain VS Maserati), or invest an insane amount of money, even if it's not profitable in endurance racing, in Peugeot or 1.5 billion in a bogus Chinese brand... that's what we call programmed voluntary suicide.
It's all in the firmness of this Wonderful... at the same time. ...
In the case of the EPZs, it's just a matter of postponing the dates. In the end, the EPZs will be extended to most urban areas. What is incomprehensible is that the major automakers are not seeking to develop alternative solutions to all-electricity, as Porsche is doing with synthetic fuels.
I don't know DS sales. Is it that bad?
Peugeot has won in endurance racing in the past. Formula e isn't F1, but I don't know if it's that neglected? A few years ago I went to see the vacuum cleaner race in Paris, but I wasn't well placed, it wasn't well organized.
EPZs are gradually being heralded as a blight on cities, and now they want to implement them by 2035 at best, or see how to get rid of them altogether.
What's the point of putting Peugeot in Endurance racing instead of Maserati or Alfa? Does Peugeot have products to promote to be in Endurance racing? Especially with their 9×8, which has been a resounding flop??? And that they want to continue developing? It's the sports and prestige brands that are in HyperCars, so what's Peugeot doing there? To sell 208s or something like that??? Let's be honest, no one gives a damn. What does the FE bring to Maserati, which doesn't yet sell electric cars (fortunately)??? Isn't it more Peugeot's place? How often do you hear about the FE?
Do you really think that DS, which has no history, no engine and no statues, can compete with BMW, Mercedes or, even worse, Lexus, which is outclassing them all?
Customers who have seen the DS9 think it's a... Citroën HDG that should replace the C6... who here has a DS? Who abroad buys DS? Peeeeeersone!
Citroën still has an aura of French luxury, which is a blow to Peugeot's system, which has never got there and never will, even after decades of trying and tens of billions wasted for nothing, and they're doing the same thing with Citroën as they did with Simca, because after the Peugeot takeover, all the well-off customers preferred to drive Simca cars rather than Peugeots, and that made them mad 😡!
When Citroën was winning the WRC year after year, Peugeot preferred to take the wind out of their sails and put in a 307 CC, thinking it would boost sales... but it didn't work.
DS was to be the brand to invade China... as a result they recently sold their factories 🏭 to Dofgeng as it was an abject failure.
You see a lot of DS, Opel news (Vauxhall isn't mentioned), but in order not to appear to be a minority in the face of the old FCA, the craziness continues to please a rogue and chauvinistic government and we continue to run factories in France that cost more money than they produce because Lemaire and Macron play the chauvinist and patriotism that stinks just to make it seem essential (essential in what ... they don't say because they wouldn't know what to answer).
It's time to sell off DS, Opel and Vauxhall and put Peugeot back in its place, as France is collapsing like a house of cards and wants to take advantage of the ex-Chrysler network to introduce unsuitable Peugeots to Uncle Sam, who already had nothing to do with them in the 80s and 90s, with sales approaching zero!
DS has no history, but Citroën DS and SM do.
The DS brand is supposed to offer French-style luxury to the Chinese, but it doesn't seem to be working. Citroën's cars have lost their luxury appeal, leaving this niche to DS.
I agree that Peugeot's sporty versions are a thing of the past (back in the days of the GTI), and that investing in endurance racing doesn't make sense.
Peugeot's return to the USA is a new joke, it's not possible otherwise.
I hear that the Opel Corsa is selling very well in Europe. Maybe not in France, but in neighboring countries.
And as mentioned, selling factories in Europe will enable Chinese groups to set up there and, in addition, obtain aid from European countries, or investing 1.5 billion in a Chinese brand that's at the bottom of the ranking. Talk of projection and anticipation is... laugh-out-loud funny! Because, as Jérôme said, it's not the wolf that's arriving in the sheepfold, but the whole pack that's about to arrive!
Proof that we're all aiming for France, even if it means destroying liquidity capital and the Fiat group in the process, and even Chrysler, given that no product has been announced for this brand:
https://investir.lesechos.fr/actu-des-valeurs/la-vie-des-actions/stellantis-pas-de-fermeture-dusine-en-france-a-moyen-terme-tavares-1870058
Without wishing to play devil's advocate, C.T makes his marks profitable and stellantis does well.
It's true that here there are only players who invest millions, billions... we're not talking politics but business.
Maserati has fallen far behind, fiat is content with its 500, lancia was no good before stellantis, alfa has qualities or had everything depends on the point of view.
In fact, under Fca, all its brands were already on their last legs, except Chrysler Jeep Dodge, which was in good health.
This plant was already for sale under Fca, which is nothing new, and the right move would be to offer it to a Chinese partner to ensure success.
I hear your criticisms, but saying gneugneugneu fiat is better than peugeot gneugneugneu peugeot is better than fiat is nothing. The important thing is to achieve the targets set, to be profitable and to keep the shareholders happy so that they stay.
Gneugneugneu he protects the bosses... is that without bosses no employees.
Profits, on the other hand, are another matter.
It makes me laugh out loud:
What has Stellantis done with Lancia since his takeover???
Blah, blah, blah
What did Stellantis do with Chrysler????
All talk and no action
What did Stellantis do with Dodge?
All talk and no action, because the Hornet is an FCA product
What did Stellantis do for Alfa Romeo?
Releasing a BSUV unanimously rejected by everyone, professional or private.
What has Stellantis done for Fiat?
Nothing, because the 500 range, Tipo and Panda were working without a hitch, and last time I checked, that's really utopian misinformation, because Fiat held the South American market long before Stellantis arrived, put Alfa back on the rails in terms of benchmark products, and put Dodge and Ram on the market with products in line with customer demand (the proof is that they've been selling more Chargers than Camaros for years).
What did PSA do?
They have created a brand that is a fiasco, destroyed Citroën's image through excessive ego, just as they did with Simca, and created products that nobody wants (605, 607, XM, C6...etc). They've missed all their entry into markets outside Europe (Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the USA, Australia, etc.), and even Iran has been creating cars without them for a few years now.)
What did PSA do with DS, which was supposed to be the brand ready to conquer China? The biggest failure of all was the sale of all the factories to Donfgeng.
What did Peugeot do to demonstrate its expertise in conquering China? A resounding flop.
Ah if we invest in FE with DS without any return and we invest in hypercars in endurance racing in a brand that has nothing to do with it, which on top of that is the laughing stock of the show because it's an abject failure, but on top of that we continue (just in case the competition isn't laughing loud enough) by throwing millions out of the window in a project that should unanimously be thrown in the garbage can because when a sports car is such a flop, anyone can move on to something else... but not Tavares!!!'
Was Maserati in its death throes under FCA? It's strange because the sales figures show the opposite and since the takeover with Stellantis... all the articles show that it's a fiasco. The new Gran Turismo isn't selling as expected and the Grecale is an FCA product. We hear about the new Quattroporte and Levante but they never arrive, even though they're vital to Maserati's survival, and customers go elsewhere in disgust at the wait! The MC20 is an FCA product.
We're still waiting for the new Chrysler, which is dying and living thanks to the minivan born under... FCA, and the little Jeep born under Stellantis... is a fiasco, and the Cherokee owes nothing to Stellantis but rather to FCA.
In short, we need to analyze the global market and its history before suggesting that PSA will save anything, because for the moment, Tavares is Ghislain's successor and the king of blah, blah, blah... we're at the height of our powers, and it's not by kowtowing to shareholders and French governments that we make profits... in fact, it's quite the opposite.
So maintaining factories in France that spend their time making losses but aren't closed just to please Macron and Lemaire... that's what I call agony and will end up putting the group in an irrecoverable situation, and last time I checked, it's Fiat that's bringing in the cash and not Peugeot.
Propose to a Chinese partner Which Chinese partner? This brand in which they have invested 1.5 billion euros and which is at the bottom of the ranking compared to other Chinese brands???? If that's what you call a partner, then the group isn't in the shit and the future smells of sulfur!
What's more, we're all familiar with the Tavares technique, because the 3 biggest automakers in the USA have already used it, and we've seen how it turned out... the 2 biggest lost everything and the 3rd was sold to FCA after the total failure of the Mercedes takeover, just as it was a failure on BMW's part with the Rover group, which would still be alive if Honda had taken it over.
If you know everything ced, take Tavares' place instead of just criticizing.
I don't care who's in charge, I don't care about future business strategies. Under fca and stellantis, the promises of premium alfas are disconnected from a network that has become a complete failure and a clientele that prefers to look elsewhere.
I keep my 147 gta preciously but my daily, without shame, is a citroen ami, a small electric valeo practical in town that fits my criteria (30km/day). And frankly, Citroen's service has been faultless so far, whereas I don't go to Alfa any more, I do it myself.