The Italian government has announced an ambitious financial stimulus plan 950 million euros to stimulate the renewal of the country’s car fleet in 2024. The announcement comes amid a bitter controversy with the Stellantis group, which has criticized the Georgia Maloney government for not paying enough attention to the transition to electric vehicles.

The Minister of Business and Production of Italy, Adolfo Urso, presented the new product “car incentive plan” during a meeting in Rome in the presence of industrialists and social partners. This plan is based on three main principles: eliminating vehicles that pollute the environment, facilitating the replacement of cars by low-income families and supporting the production of cars in Italy.

Aging fleet

The Italian government, aware of the wear and tear of its fleet, provides incentives for the purchase of new electric or hybrid cars, as well as the installation of charging stations. The Ministry of Business and Production of Italy emphasized in the document that the Italian fleet is currently one of the oldest in Europe. However, these measures are controversial, especially with the Stellantis group. The company’s management blamed the Italian government for the power cut, and an exchange of criticism erupted between Giorgia Maloney and Stellantis over accusations of favoritism towards France following PSA’s 2021 merger with FCA.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, expressed his displeasure in Challenges magazine, expressing regret. “open opposition” to the electric transition in Italy. He highlighted the paradox of producing electric cars in Italy without the necessary government support to increase their sales.

Recovery needed for Italy?

Stellantis, which produced around 685,000 cars in Italy in 2022 compared to 678,000 in France, aims to increase production in the country to one million units by 2030. The approach aims to counter a downward trend in Italian car production from more than a million cars in 2017 to less than 700,000 in 2022. On Thursday, Adolfo Urso confirmed the government’s desire to bring Italian car production back to one million units a year.

He noted that, despite financial incentives, up to 80% of them went to cars produced at foreign factories, including Stellantis.

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