In Melfi, the assembly lines are running. And they’re running fast. About 300 cars roll off the assembly line every day. Stellantis. However, behind this renewed pace lies a much less reassuring question: Who is going to buy all these cars? This question takes on even greater significance given that a complete one-week halt in production has already been announced to employees for October.
The alert comes directly from a factory worker who was interviewed by local media Basilicata24. «We produce about 300 cars a day,» he explains. Over five days, that amounts to about 1,500 vehicles a week. These figures might seem encouraging for Melfi, where Stellantis assembles models such as the DS No. 8, DS 7, and the new Jeep Compass, while the new Lancia Gamma complements the site's industrial program. But in the factory parking lots, employees are witnessing a reality that worries them.
Cars that are produced… but remain in parking lots
«We can see with our own eyes that many of the cars we produce are out there in the parking lots, some of them even uncovered,» says the worker. This raises the question: «The issue isn’t how many large cars we manufacture, but how many we actually manage to sell.»
The unveiling of the new Lancia Gamma on September 16, 2026, would therefore have special significance for some Melfi employees. The worker acknowledges that the new Lancia is «beautiful,» just like the DS 7. But he wonders about their market positioning: «At the end of the day, who buys these big cars?» High prices, hybrid and electric powertrains, and competition from cheaper models—particularly Chinese ones—have led the workers interviewed by the local media to doubt these new vehicles« ability to generate sufficient sales volume. And yet, the plant is churning out cars. »The production pace is fast. There aren’t many of us, and we’re building 300 cars per shift,” the employee continues. In his view, the workers are therefore fulfilling their end of the bargain. The problem lies elsewhere: finding enough customers.
A one-week shutdown announced in October
That’s where the situation becomes paradoxical. While cars continue to roll off the assembly lines, the backlog seems large enough to fuel concerns. «Last week, I saw a lot of new cars parked in the lots—there are too many of them,» says the worker. He adds, not without a touch of irony: «Maybe that’s why we’ll be shutting down completely for a week in October, as we’ve been told.»
This situation inevitably brings to mind that of another major Stellantis plant in Italy: Mirafiori. In Turin, Seven production days have already been lost since early September. Stellantis, however, expects production at the plant to double by 2026 thanks to the Fiat 500 hybrid and electric models. This doubling should be put into perspective: after producing approximately 30,000 electric Fiat 500s in 2025, 2026 production volumes are now expected to be around 60,000 cars, whereas the initial target was 100,000 units or more. Unions are now concerned about the long-term security of certain jobs, following the hiring of more than 400 workers earlier this year.
In both Melfi and Mirafiori, two different situations ultimately raise the same question: Stellantis now has new models to produce in Italy, but will the market actually allow the plants to operate sustainably?
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The problems are always the same:
– quirky design (inherited from PSA).
– Poor reliability (inherited from PSA).
– After-sales service in disarray (inherited from FCA and PSA).
– Poor value for money (a legacy of the Tavares era).
– a lack of updates to successful models (mainly inherited from FCA, but as we saw with the DS3, PSA has a knack for messing things up).
What a ridiculous and degrading ‘contribution’
It's already better reasoned than yours.
PSA cars are in the doldrums. Who wants to buy DS models and the PureTech engines found across the various brands?
Uncertain reliability, inconsistent customer service (sometimes good, sometimes bad, depending on the dealership), and then people are surprised by the low sales?
Stellantis is a failure; the Italian brands really need to leave, because otherwise we fear for their future.
I ordered an electric DSn7. The staff at the DS Store in Montélimar were really friendly, and the price was great for a brand-new car that was already discounted and came with a large battery—plus, this car is gorgeous.
Oh, so you're the buyer!
We should ask ourselves why it's already been put away, then.
But good for you—the main thing is to be happy and live out your passion for cars 🙂
On its own, the DS No. 7 isn’t bad, and the features are likely appealing—it always comes down to the balance between price, features, and powertrain. But if I stick to the prices of the specific configurations, a DS7 that starts at €57,000 with a 230 ch front-mounted electric motor… there are better options out there… It’s kind of like an entry-level powertrain at a premium price. For that price, you’d get the 350 ch AWD version—that’s a better deal. That’s my opinion.
The DS N8, sold exclusively as an electric vehicle, hasn't been very successful; the DS N7 is available with the underpowered 1.2-liter hybrid engine, with no plug-in hybrid version—and the same goes for the Lancia Gamma—while the Jeep Compass is available with a plug-in hybrid.
I'm having a hard time understanding Stellantis' strategy. .
You definitely shouldn't try to figure out Stellantis—they change their minds all the time. After the Tavares industrial disaster, you might have thought things would get better, but time is passing and nothing seems to be happening.
Back in the day in Melfi, the plant ran 24 hours a day, first producing the Punto and then the Grande Punto, but due to a lack of model updates and investment in the B-segment—and even Mr. Marchionne’s decision to abandon the segment altogether—the Melfi plant is now a shadow of its former self. Well done 👏
It seems to me that people have taken a liking to bashing Stellantis, with disastrous consequences for Italian workers. They won’t buy a Fiat unless it’s made in Italy—and the same goes for Lancia—because it’s made in Spain. But do they know that the Renault Clio is made in Turkey and the Captur in Spain...? Just to give an example.
That's not true, since the old Fiat 500 and Lancia Ypsilon with internal combustion engines—manufactured in Poland—sold like hotcakes in Italy, and besides, Stellantis could have continued to produce them, given the model's success.
So your argument doesn't hold water!
I agree, but it was also a different time—the Fiat 500 in Poland cost €16,000, and back then, no one really cared about electric cars, hybrids, touchscreens, and so on. The current Italian-made Fiat 500 hybrid, priced at €20,000, is too expensive; it’s competing with cars in the segment above it, and in my opinion, they don’t produce enough special editions. For example, a Fiat 500 hybrid priced at €17,000 in a Gucci edition might sell better, etc.
It's normal for the electric or hybrid Fiat 500 to be expensive since it's manufactured in Italy, where labor costs are higher than in Poland.
Of course, but in that case, they shouldn't have manufactured it in Italy.
Stellantis is too big a company and therefore makes a lot of mistakes (companies that think the corporate headquarters—where no one has ever seen a customer—is more important than the local branches)
But to then criticize all the products in that group isn't right.
I drive a C5 Aircross myself. It’s a wonderful, comfortable car. Before that, I had a Hyundai i40. That was really a poor-quality car. The engine broke down after 150k, and the next engine broke down after 150k as well.
So Stellantis does indeed make good cars.
How many kilometers does the C5 Aircross get? Which engine? The 2.0L BlueHDi?
A good friend who’s a car dealer tells me the DS 7 is off to a good start. The Jeep Compass, on the other hand, is already struggling. I used to have a 300 ch DS 7 hybrid—it was a good car. Maybe I’ll be tempted by the new long-range version.
I have a Mito from the FCA era. It has 388,000 km on it today. It’s fuel-efficient when I drive slowly, but it can also go fast. I bought it new in 2009; it’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with it.
As always, Stelantis lies and deceives—they can’t get rid of their poor-quality products; no one wants to buy their unreliable cars, which also come with a very poor warranty. The only thing that remains is their arrogant way of making everyone believe they’re doing such a great job, Well, I expect this arrogant company won’t exist in five years, and I advise you never to buy a car from them.
It won't disappear in five years unless you can see into a crystal ball.
Filosa is in charge and has to clean up all of Tavares’s messes; he won’t be able to solve all of Stellantis’s problems with a single snap of his fingers.
The Stellantis plants in Sochaux (Peugeot 3008), Rennes (Citroën C5 Aircross), and Mulhouse are also expected to shut down for at least one week starting October 23. The reason: a battery shortage, particularly of long-range batteries. The same is likely to apply to Melfi, as production there relies on these batteries. This is now the consequence of Filosa’s last-minute decision to pull out of many battery projects.