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Produced around 222,000 vehicles in first half, Fim Cisl

says

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Union projects full-year output of 440,000 vehicles

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New models expected to support output form next year

MILAN, July 7 (Reuters) - Stellantis ( STLA ) vehicle

output at its Italian plants declined 27% in the first half

compared with a year-ago period, pointing to a further

production decline this year after a steep drop in 2024, the FIM

Cisl union said on Monday.

Fiat-owner Stellantis ( STLA ), which since last month has been led

by new CEO Antonio Filosa, in December unveiled a plan to revive

production in Italy, which has suffered from soft European

demand, especially for electric vehicles, high energy costs,

growing Chinese competition and a model lineup revamp.

However, new models, including the hybrid version of the

Fiat 500 city car, are only expected to provide a material

contribution to the group's production from next year.

"We knew 2025 would not mark a turnaround, what we didn't

expect was it to be worse than 2024," FIM Cisl head Ferdinando

Uliano said, presenting the union's quarterly report on

Stellantis ( STLA ) production in Italy.

Stellantis ( STLA ) was not immediately available for comment. The

group, which is due to release its first-half results on July

29, does not publish country-specific production data.

The French-Italian automaker manufactured just below 222,000

vehicles in the January-June period at its six assembly plants

in Italy, including around 98,000 light commercial vehicles, the

union said, with Uliano projecting full-year output of around

440,000.

Stellantis ( STLA ) produced 475,000 vehicles in Italy last year,

which included 283,000 passenger cars, the lowest number in

almost 70 years. That marked a 37% drop from 2023, with

production particularly hit in the second half of the year by

the slump in EV demand and the phasing out of some models

manufactured in Italy.

The group's Europe chief Jean-Philippe Imparato last week

warned Stellantis ( STLA ) might have to close factories due to the risk

of hefty European Union fines for not complying with CO2

emission targets.

Stellantis ( STLA ), formed in early 2021 through the merger of

France's PSA and Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler, is

expected to update its plan for Italy soon.