ROME (Reuters) - Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) does not plan to close plants or make mass redundancies in Italy, an executive at the automaker said on Thursday during talks organised by the Italian government to address concerns about the country's car industry.
Industry Minister Adolfo Urso hosted the meeting in Rome with industry representatives and trade unions, as the Italian auto industry grapples with falling output and idle plants, and sales of Stellantis' Italian brands Fiat (BIT:STLAM), Alfa Romeo and Lancia are shrinking.
"Stellantis does not intend to close any plants in Italy, just as it has no intention of making collective redundancies," Italy human resources manager Giuseppe Manca was quoted as saying in a company statement.
Stellantis is facing industry-wide challenges such as low demand for more expensive electric vehicles and competition from China. It is also grappling with bloated U.S. inventories that have led it to cut profit and cash-flow forecasts.
The company is Italy's sole major automaker, but its output there is tanking. Last month the FIM-CISL union predicted Italian annual vehicle production would fall to under 500,000 units this year, the lowest since 1958.
Last week, a trade union source said they expected Stellantis to again pause production at the historic Mirafiori factory in Fiat's hometown of Turin, where the electric Fiat 500 city car and two Maserati sports cars are made.
During the meeting, Urso said the government would soften plans to cut by some 4.6 billion euros ($4.86 billion) the funds set aside to support the country's automotive industry between 2025 and 2030, following wide-spread criticism from unions and business lobbies.
Rome intends to restore some 200 million euros for 2025, Italy's largest trade union CGIl said.
Gianluca Ficco, of the UILM union, said in a statement the government had failed to follow up on proposals to relaunch the auto industry that were agreed in previous meetings.
"In practice, the ministry has stopped talks for almost a year, letting the situation plummet," Ficco said.
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