Stellantis invests in Italy to boost low emission vehicle production

TURIN -- Stellantis has chosen Italy's historic carmaking city of Turin for an investment to boost its role in low emission vehicle production and as a center for the recycling of cars and their parts.

The automaker signed an agreement with its Belgian partner Punch Powertrain to increase production of electrified dual-clutch transmissions (eDCT) for hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at its Mirafiori plant.

Producing and selling more electric and hybrid vehicles is a key plank in plans set out in March by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to double revenue to 300 billion euros ($300 billion) a year by 2030.

The Mirafiori production will complement the existing capacity of a plant in the French city of Metz, Stellantis said in a statement on Tuesday

Tavares said on Tuesday that the automaker was investing upwards of 10 million euros in the gearbox upgrade, without giving a precise figure.

Stellantis plans to produce 600,000 eDCT transmissions annually in Mirafiori and 600,000 in Metz. At full production, the two facilities will supply all relevant Stellantis manufacturing sites in Europe.

The Mirafiori site is expected to start production in the second half of 2024.

The Mirafiori complex will also become the company's main hub for its so-called 'circular economy' business, focusing on reconditioning and dismantling of vehicles and reusing components, with Tavares seeing a prolonged shortage of raw materials.

"We believe there will be scarcity of raw materials and we think we can extend the life of materials we use, this is going to be very important for our company," Tavares told a news conference in Turin. "The scarcity of raw materials will continue over the next decades," he said.

Stellantis aims to boost recycling revenues ten-fold to 2 billion euros by 2030.

Union officials said the recycling operation could create work for 550 people by 2025.

Turin is the historic home of Fiat, which merged with France's PSA Group last year to form Stellantis.

It is one of Stellantis' main production sites in Italy along with Melfi in the south and Atessa's Sevel for light commercial vehicles in central Italy. Including white collar staff, Mirafiori now employs 20,000 workers.

Production at Mirafiori, which also hosts the Stellantis battery hub for Italy, includes the full-electric 500 small car, one of the group's bestsellers in Europe.