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ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s ruling parties called on the government to summon senior Stellantis management to clarify their plans for the country, a request which could increase friction between Rome and the Fiat automaker, a document seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.
The request comes as Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares faces pressure to revive the group’s results, after a profit warning it announced last week and a forecast for a cash burn of up to 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion) in the full-year 2024.
Politicians in Italy have repeatedly criticised Stellantis, whose other brands include Alfa Romeo, for its falling automotive production in the country.
The document from the ruling coalition parties, which includes several requests to the government for information about the state of the national automotive industry, also calls for Stellantis to provide precise figures about job cuts at its Italian plants through voluntary redundancy.
Stellantis was not available for comment.
Tavares is already due to appear on Friday before the Economic Activities Committee of the Italian parliament in Rome to discuss the country’s automotive industry.
The company’s output in Italy is expected to fall below 500,000 vehicles this year, from 751,000 in 2023 due to a mix of soft market demand, especially for electric vehicles and factory reconfiguration before new model launches.
The automaker and the government have been discussing for over a year a plan to restore national output to one million units by the end of this decade, a level last reached in 2017, but they never reached an agreement.
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(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir)