Having attention for Fiat also involves criticism - Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 24 - Having attention for Fiat and related Italian brands also involves criticising managerial decisions that have not been in the interests of the country, Premier Giorgia Meloni said during a parliamentary question time on Wednesday.
    "The Fiat group and its related Italian brands represent a very important part of Italy's industrial history in terms of employment and the wealth generated," said Meloni.
    "It is an economic heritage that deserves the utmost attention, and this also means having the courage to criticise certain choices made by the management and by the group when they have not been in Italy's interests, as I have happened to do, often to general indifference," she continued.
    Fiat comes under the auspices of multinational car manufacturer Stellantis, formed in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group.
    Debatable choices include the decision to "transfer of the (company's) legal and fiscal headquarters out of Italy or the merger that concealed a French takeover of the historic Italian group", Meloni told parliament.
    "So much so that a member of the French government now sits on the board of directors of FCA; it is no coincidence that the group's industrial choices take French demands into greater consideration than Italian ones," she added.
    The premier reiterated that the aim is to return to producing a million vehicles a year in Italy "with those who really want to invest in historic Italian excellence".
    "If you want to sell cars on the international market by advertising them as Italian jewels, then those cars must be produced in Italy," insisted Meloni.
    Since taking office in autumn 2022, the Meloni government has insisted on the need to reverse the decline in car production in Italy in recent years, particularly by getting Stellantis to bring manufacturing back to the country.
    Last month the group cnfirmed its commitment to reach a production level of one million cars and commercial vehicles per year in Italy under its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan.
    In a statement released after a meeting at the business and Made in Italy ministry, the group reaffirmed "the centrality of Italy" in its global strategy and the "will to create a sustainable future for its Italian operations".
    On Friday Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso also said the government is trying to get a second car manufacturer to set up in Italy in order to reach the overall target of producing 1.4 million vehicles a year in Italy. (ANSA).