Will Draghi and Landini get electrified on batteries with Stellantis?
Talks underway between the Draghi government and Stellantis to start a public-private collaboration for a gigafactory in Italy with public money. What the unions say.
A Stellantis gigafactory with (also) government money.
The fourth car manufacturer , born from the merger between PSA and FCA, would be discussing with the government the conditions for the construction in Italy of a plant for the production of batteries and components for electric vehicles. All the details.
THE INTENTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT
Let's start with the intentions. The Draghi government wants its own gigafactory and has foreseen, in the NRP, the allocation of 600 million euros of public funds.
THE DISCUSSIONS WITH STELLANTIS
Now the same government has started talks with Stellantis, to start a public-private collaboration, trying to exceed one billion euros in investments, to equip the country with a strategic infrastructure for electric mobility.
“The discussions are at the level of a confrontation on the principle of a gigafactory to cover future needs (of Stellantis). The conditions must be studied with the Italian authorities, ”a source close to the dossier told Stellantis to Reuters .
THE MEETING WITH GIORGETTI
Last week Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, and John Elkann, president of the car manufacturer, had a virtual meeting with the Minister of Industry Giancarlo Giorgetti.
“There was an exchange on the principle of covering Stellantis' battery needs and, given that the group produces numerous vehicles in Italy, there would be a common interest in discussing the conditions of a gigafactory in Italy,” explains the source.
PLAN
At stake would be the construction of a plant with a production capacity of approximately 37 GWh per year, employing 500 specialized employees. The project, in addition to the Italian green light, will have to obtain the authorization of the European Commission in relation to the legislation on state aid.
THE ROLE OF STELLANTIS
Stellantis could lead the project. The car manufacturer, on the other hand, has never made a secret of its intentions on gigafactories. Last April, Reuters recalls , the Italian-French company announced its intention to build new gigafactories in Europe and the United States this year, in addition to the two already planned in France and Germany, in a joint venture with a subsidiary by TotalEnergies. On the plate there would be a total investment of 5 billion euros.
THE KNOTS TO UNTIL
To be determined is whether the discussions between Stellantis and the Draghi government should have a positive outcome, the details of the final project and the place where the giga-factory could be built.
THE POSITION OF THE FIOM-CGIL
Michele De Palma, car manager of Fiom Cgil, today not by chance told Corriere della Sera : “One of the points of the comparison with Stellantis and with the government is what kind of transition we are building. We need a factory that produces the batteries because it would be an indirect verification of the volumes. Workers cannot be kept in the dark. There is no table that allows us to understand what choices the company is making. We only get the issue of cost reduction. But it is clear that with volumes reduced to a minimum the country costs are higher. Instead we must build a supply chain to protect component companies. The state has guaranteed a 6.3 billion loan to FCA. They say that conditionality was the maintenance of employment until 2023. After what happens? ».
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/draghi-e-landini-si-elettrizzeranno-sulle-batterie-con-stellantis/ on Thu, 10 Jun 2021 13:58:08 +0000.