Cars, government unfreezes measures to support industry

Diplomatic battles in Europe are not enough to define an industrial policy in the automotive sector. After long months in which the focus had shifted to the revision of the CO2 rules and the consequent halt to combustion engines from 2035, this conviction seems to be re-emerging in the ranks of the government, and talk of the car industry is once again being heard from a national perspective.

The news comes from the latest meeting held at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and is the announcement that, after almost a year of stalemate, the Prime Minister's decree that will allocate 1 billion and 600 million to the sector, between supply-side measures and demand-side incentives. This is basically what remains of the maxi Automotive Fund that the budget law of a year ago had largely drained, quite resoundingly, with a cut of 4.6 billion. That Fund, which had been set up by the Draghi government with an endowment until 2030, was somewhat frozen during the course of last year. The Dpcm that was supposed to release a new tranche, set up by the Ministry of Enterprise, was left behind in the list of measures that must obtain the agreement of the Ministry of the Economy. But perhaps a certain prudence on the part of the government, interested in monitoring the progress of the investment commitments in Italia that Stellantis made at the ministerial table at the end of 2024, also played a role.

The goal of which Minister Urso had spoken - 1 million vehicles to be produced in Italia by 2028 or by 2030 at the latest - has in fact disappeared from the scene, cancelled by its very impracticability in the face of a picture that - according to the latest report by the Fim Cisl - has seen production of Stellantis in 2025 down by 20% compared to 2024 - under 380 thousand units - and even halved compared to 2023. In the meeting that took place in recent days, however, according to the government's reading, positive indications came from the group, in terms of production, which is on the rise thanks to the Fiat 500 hybrid at Mirafiori, and in terms of purchases from Italian component manufacturers.

The point made at the ministry with Stellantis, and at the same time with all players in the sector at the end was a kind of turning point to announce that the resources of the Automotive Fund are now being released. 75% will go to the supply side, i.e. the supply chain, through Innovation Agreements and Development Contracts. A smaller share will instead be reserved for incentives for demand. In particular, 180 million will go to the ecobonus for vans - with an eye on Stellantis production in Atessa. Around ninety will go to motorbikes, scooters and quadricycles. While for cars, which had already benefited from the campaign launched by the Ministry for the Environment with Pnrr funds, there will only be 50 million to experiment with long-term rental of electric and hybrid models by low-income families.