Premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday
described as "bizarre" comments made by Stellantis CEO Carlos
Tavares in an interview to Bloomberg criticising Italy for not
doing enough to protect jobs in car manufacturing and saying it
needed to incentivize electric-car purchases.
"What I read seemed quite bizarre to me, we are always available
and open to whatever creates jobs," Meloni told reporters in
Tokyo, adding that she had not read the interview itself but
only "statements".
"If you then think it is better to produce where labour costs
less, you are free to do so," she added.
"The CEO of a large company should know that incentives cannot
be aimed at just one company and that we have invested in
eco-incentives," said Meloni.
On Thursday Tavares told Bloomberg that Pomigliano and the
historic Mirafiori factory in Turin would face serious cuts in
employment levels unless the carmaker got major subsidies for
making electric cars in Italy.
He also said Italy should do more to protect its jobs in the
automotive sector instead of attacking Stellantis for producing
less.
"This is a scapegoat in an attempt to avoid taking
responsibility for the fact that if you don't give subsidies for
the purchase of electric vehicles, you put plants in Italy at
risk," he said.
Last month Meloni slammed the group formed in 2021 from the
merger of Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and
the French PSA Group for failing to act in the country's
interests in relation to the production of
its Fiat models and other historic Italian brands.
"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.
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