Unions warn: «Either the Chinese come in, or Stellantis will have to close plants.»

While Antonio Filosa outlined his vision for the world, Stellantis is trying to reassure stakeholders in Italy. The group has confirmed a plan to invest 5 billion euros in Italy, promising that no plants will be closed and that each site will retain a specific role. But the unions are becoming increasingly skeptical of these assurances. In Turin, employee representatives believe the announcements still fail to address the key question: how can Italian factories remain operational when auto production continues to plummet?

A 5-billion-euro plan that fails to win people over

During a meeting with labor unions, Emanuele Cappellano, head of Stellantis Europe, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to Italy. According to him, 40 % of Stellantis’ global investments will be allocated to the European region, with a revenue growth target of 15 % by 2030. For Italy, this will notably translate into 5 billion euros invested in innovation.

The CEO also reiterated that no Italian plant is at risk of closure. Pomigliano will remain a hub for affordable electric vehicles, Atessa for commercial vehicles, while Mirafiori is set to become a center for industrial innovation focused on the Fiat 500, batteries, and the circular economy. On paper, the message is meant to be reassuring: Stellantis is not turning its back on Italy. However, the unions criticize the automaker for talking more about innovation than about automotive production.

Mirafiori at the Center of Concerns

Tensions are highest in Turin. Mirafiori, the historic birthplace of Fiat, has been going through a difficult period for several years. Admittedly, the launch of the Fiat 500 hybrid should help boost production volumes, and Stellantis has announced the opening of a new battery center by 2027. But for the unions, this is still not enough.

Luigi Paone, head of the UILM union in Turin, believes the plant needs new models to return to a satisfactory level of activity. In his view, the 500 Hybrid alone will neither fill the production lines to capacity nor provide much relief to the many suppliers that depend on Mirafiori. The FIM-CISL echoes this sentiment, arguing that the confirmation of already-known projects does not guarantee a stable future for the site. Union representatives are now awaiting a genuine industrial plan capable of reversing the trend.

«The Filosa effect is already over»

The harshest criticism, however, comes from the CGIL. Its regional secretary, Giorgio Airaudo, did not mince words. According to him, «the time for announcements is over,» and the numbers speak for themselves. For the union leader, producing fewer than 300,000 cars a year across four Italian plants is simply not viable in the long term.

«Either the Chinese come in, or Stellantis will have to close plants,» he said. This single sentence sums up the debate currently rocking the Italian auto industry. For several months now, the Italian government has regularly raised the possibility of attracting a second automaker to the country in order to reduce its dependence on Stellantis. Several Chinese companies have been mentioned, though no concrete plans have materialized so far.

Giorgio Airaudo even believes that Italy has fallen behind Spain, which has succeeded in attracting more industrial investment. He specifically cites the example of Leapmotor, the Chinese brand partnered with Stellantis, whose vehicles destined for Europe are produced in Spain rather than in Italy.

The Numbers

These statements take on special significance when viewed in light of the production figures released earlier this year. In 2025, Stellantis assembled only 213,706 cars in Italy, a historic low. We have to go back to 1955 resulting in lower automobile production in the country.

Mirafiori is certainly the only plant to have seen growth last year, thanks to the ramp-up of production of the Fiat 500 hybrid. But even with the ambitious target of 100,000 units per year, the plant would still fall far short of the 200,000-vehicle threshold that some unions consider necessary to ensure its long-term viability. For the CGIL, the problem is simple: Stellantis has announced 60 new models worldwide by 2030, but none of them currently seems capable of radically transforming the situation at Mirafiori.