The president of Stellantis, John Elkann, denied this Monday, February 5, any plan to merge the French-Italian-American automobile group with another manufacturer, following speculation in the Italian press about a possible union with Renault.
“No project under study”
“There is no plan under study regarding merger operations between Stellantis and other manufacturers,” says John Elkann in a press release.
The constructeur “se concentre sur l’exécution de son plan stratégique” et “sur la mise en œuvre en temps voulu des projets annoncés pour renforcer ses activités sur tous les marchés où il est présent, y compris l’Italie”, relève-t -He.
The group “participated in the round table” organized by the Ministry of Business, “in which the Italian government joins all actors in the supply chain to achieve important common objectives to face together the challenges of the energy transition”, remembers John Elkann.
Questioned by AFP, Renault did not want to comment.
“France is maneuvering in the automobile sector. The Parisian government, a shareholder in Stellantis and Renault, is thinking big,” Roman newspaper Il Messaggero reported on Sunday.
The idea “is that of a merger between the two automobile groups. A union under the direction of the executive headed by President Macron” to “increase control over the European automobile sector,” the newspaper says.
At the end of January, the French State increased its voting rights in Stellantis to 9.6% while retaining a 6.1% stake in the capital, while the Italian State is not present in its capital. As for Renault, the French State has a 15% stake.
Subsidy controversy
The government of Giorgia Meloni and the management of Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Maserati, Lancia brands) have repeatedly exchanged strong criticism through the press.
The president of the Italian Council thus accused the car manufacturer of “privileging” the interests of France since the merger of PSA with Fiat-Chrysler in 2021, while the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, criticizes Rome for turning its back on the electrical.
Giorgia Meloni returned to the fray on Monday, declaring “that the CEO of a large company knows that state subsidies cannot be allocated to a specific company.”
“If you think it is better to produce in other countries where production costs are lower, I can’t say anything, but don’t tell me that the car produced is Italian,” Giorgia Meloni told the press in Tokyo, after a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
This was reacting to an interview published on Thursday by the Bloomberg agency, in which Carlos Tavares believed that Italy should do more to protect jobs in the automotive sector instead of looking for “scapegoats” and attacking Stellantis.
“If subsidies are not granted for the purchase of electric vehicles, Italian factories are being put at risk,” he warned.
The Meloni Government announced on Thursday 950 million euros in financial incentives until 2024 to renew its vehicle fleet and encourage Italians to buy less polluting cars.
Source: BFM TV
