MILAN, March 19 (Reuters) - Italy should mimic France's

current auto purchase incentives that favour cars produced in

Europe when it reviews its own national scheme, Stellantis ( STLA )

CEO Carlos Tavares said on Tuesday in an interview

with il Resto del Carlino newspaper.

Italy announced earlier this year a new cash incentive

scheme for auto purchases, worth 950 million euros ($1 billion)

for 2024. However Industry Minister Adolfo Urso has said the

scheme might be revised next year if it fails to support sales

of vehicles produced in the country.

Asked whether he was worried that Italian incentives would

also favour Chinese carmakers, Tavares said some countries, and

France in particular, had found a way to avoid it.

As part of the scheme adopted by Paris, only a list of

models are eligible for incentives, based on a sophisticated

calculation factoring overall carbon emissions along their

entire manufacturing and distribution process.

This is discouraging purchases of Chinese-built electric

cars (EVs), imports of which have been increasing in Europe

helped by lower prices.

France has also adopted a programme, called "social

leasing", to subsidise leasing of electric cars by lower

earners.

"We need to follow this kind of path. It's a way to protect

Europe, not by closing it off but by encouraging local producers

to be more competitive," Tavares said in the interview.

The Stellantis ( STLA ) CEO also said the French-Italian automaker,

whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep, did not need the

Italian government as a new investor.

"It's not up to the CEO to decide .... (but) the company has

no governance problems under John Elkann's chairmanship, it's

sound and efficient," Tavares said.

Industry Minister Urso had floated the idea in February

during a spat over Stellantis' ( STLA ) commitment to Italy.

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