For the first time in Italy, Fiat came second. This December, the historic automobile company lost the medal for cars sold in its country of origin in the monthly classification for the first time. This is a minimal difference, just 229 cars, but enough to be considered a warning for the Turin brand, part of the Stellantis galaxy since PSA and FCA merged creating this colossus in the European automobile industry.
In December 2023, in a record since sales in the sector have been counted – for almost a century – Volkswagen surpassed Fiat by very little in registrations. The German brand sold 10,752 models in Italy, 20.6% more than in 2022, while Fiat closed December with 10,523, 16% less. It has only been a specific piece of information, since in January Fiat once again confirmed its leadership, but equally, the surprise was an alarm signal.
Everything happens while in recent weeks in Italy there has been some friction between the Government led by Giorgia Meloni and Stellantis. The prime minister criticized the car company's decision to reduce production at Italian plants and move some factories to other countries. The attacks occurred after La Repubblica, a newspaper whose owners are the Agnelli family, former owners of Fiat, made a controversial cover entitled “Italy for sale” to criticize the privatization campaign of strategic public companies such as the oil company Eni, Poste italiane (postal ) or the Monte dei Paschi savings bank in Siena.
“The accusation that comes from La Repubblica has made me smile a little, with a front page that says that Italy is for sale,” said the far-right prime minister in an interview on Mediaset. “Let these accusations come from the newspaper owned by those who took over Fiat and gave it to the French. They have moved the legal headquarters and tax headquarters abroad, they have put the emblems of historical Italian companies on sale. I don't know if the headline was autobiographical, but, frankly: lessons in protecting Italianness from those pulpits, either,” she criticized.
The premier continued her attacks in the Chamber of Deputies, where she accused Stellantis and the Agnellis of acting against the interests of Italians and defended “manufacturing in Italy, employment levels and everything that affects the automobile,” which she believes It is a crucial part of the history of the transalpine country. Meloni believes that the birth of Stellantis is a French offensive against the Italian industry, and maintained that “if we want to sell a car on the international market advertising itself as an Italian jewel, then that car must be produced in Italy.” It was not the first time that the leader of the Brothers of Italy attacked Stellantis: in her biography Io sono Giorgia, the premier described the merger as “a scandal” that puts thousands of jobs in Italy at stake.
The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, was blunt in his response to Meloni. In an interview with Bloomberg, he assured that, “instead of looking for scapegoats and attacking Fiat owners,” the Italian government should do more to protect jobs in the automotive sector by boosting the electric vehicle market, than in Italy. It is “very, very small.” In his opinion, Meloni's criticisms are a way to “avoid taking responsibility for the fact that if you do not provide subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, you are putting the Italian economy at risk.” Tavares believes that Stellantis should produce high-end vehicles in countries like Italy or France, while the rest should go to countries with lower production costs. In 2023, the automotive giant presented record results, with net income growing 6% year-on-year to 189.5 billion euros, while net profit increased 11% to 18.6 billion.
