Stellantis All Set to Transform Turin Plant Into Center for Building EVs

Looks like Italian roads will soon be flooded with EVs!

Multinational automaking corporation, Stellantis (currently situated in Milan), is planning to retool its manufacturing unit in Turin, Italy. With this move, the company is mainly focusing on turning the center into an EV-only hub while transferring the production of two of its Maserati models to the Mirafiori unit. 

The motive behind Stellantis making this move is increasing the efficiency of production and safeguarding more jobs.

© Fiat Group World | Multinational automaking corporation Stellantis is planning to retool its manufacturing unit in Turin, Italy

Towards a sustainable future

The company is planning on assigning a new electrified platform to Mirafiori in order to manufacture more Maserati sedans in the time span of two years (2022-2024). This will make the factory where the company already manufactures the Fiat New 500 (its battery-operated electric mini car) its central base for electrification in Italy. 

The Mirafiori plant is an iconic and historical center of Fiat, employing somewhat around 50,000 workers in its golden days. That was in the 1970s when the company used to produce 600,000 plus cars per annum.

Currently, the plant manufactures the Maserati Levante SUV along with the new Fiat 500. As per an Italian newspaper, it’s been speculated that Stellantis might increase the production of the combustion engine Fiat 500 at the Mirafiori plant by moving some of its volumes away from Tychy, Poland. 

myenergi/Unsplash | The company is planning on assigning a new electrified platform to Mirafiori in order to manufacture more Maserati sedans in the time span of two years

Road to the new future

Stellantis was formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group at the very beginning of this year, prompting the manufacture of the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans at the Mirafiori plant. The company’s initial and major actions being, building a new improved electrified platform for Maserati. 

Stellantis has said in a statement that the company is working with utmost determination to anticipate and get ready for the energy transition of all its Italian industrial sites. The main aim is to improve the performance of the units and give Italy a position among the group’s main domestic European markets. 

Total job security

About 1,100 workers and production going on in Grugliasco will be successfully shifted to Mirafiori by the year 2024 with no overall impact on the jobs in that particular area. The workers will be rotated between the two sites, as it used to happen before, depending upon the production requirement. The company also claimed that there will be new job vacancies as they’re planning on allocating more electrification-related activities to Mirafiori. 

Alex Kotliarskyi/Unsplash | The company has claimed that there will be new job vacancies as they’re planning on allocating more electrification-related activities to Mirafiori

Italy’s over cost

Carlos Tavares, CEO, Stellantis, said the production cost at a Fiat factory in Italy was four times more as compared to PSA’s unit in France or Spain for the exact same model. This was mainly because of the fact that sales were lower than expected and labor costs were extremely high. 

Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italy’s industry minister stated, there’s a huge effort going on to support the Termoli Gigafactory. The Italian government has asked for assurance from Stellantis to let their country remain one of its major producers where it manufactures cars so that there’s no such condition as lack of opportunities or unemployment.