Stellantis extends positive series on the stock exchange, production challenge in 2025

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 30 Dec - Stellantis posted a moderate rise in Piazza Affari (FTSE MIB ), but enough to extend the positive streak that began last week (+2% in the previous eighth), although the yearly balance sheet continues to remain largely negative (-40.4% since the start of the year, -53.6% from the March high of EUR 27.155). The group, which is struggling due to the lowering of the electricity market, is heading towards a 2025 that promises to be complex and transitional, as Jean-Philippe Imparato, chief operating officer Enlarged Europe of Stellantis and part of the interim executive committee, chaired by John Elkann and created after the exit of former CEO Carlos Tavares, also explained in recent weeks. The next test for the group will be the accounts for the fourth quarter and for the whole of 2024, due on 26 February, but, in the meantime, a positive sign comes from the fact that, on 17 December last, during the round table at Mimit an agreement was reached and the foundations were laid for an agreement between the government and the company, which undertook not to close plants in Italy. The knot remains, however, that of car production, which will remain low in 2025.

In an interview with Il Messaggero, Adolfo Urso, the Italian Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, emphasised that production 'will rise by 50 per cent in 2026, thanks in part to investments made next year with new production platforms and new models, including hybrids, amounting to at least EUR 2 billion and without the support of public resources, which the company has renounced in order to allocate them entirely to SMEs in the automotive sector. Investments that will continue with equal magnitude in subsequent years. "We have been putting in place since January over one billion for investments by companies in the sector," said Urso. All this in a context in which Europe seems to be rejecting Italy's request to revise the timetable for the phase-out of endothermic engines. "The game is not closed. It is openly supported by 15 countries, the majority of European groups, led by Popular and Consevatori, Acea, which represents European car manufacturers, the industrial associations of Italy, Germany, France and Spain, and even the trade unions are moving. The Europe of business and labour is with us,' Urso said.

It is precisely the state of health of the car market that could jeopardise Europe's social resilience: 'At the European Council presidency meeting on 25 September in Brussels on the fate of the car, I made it clear that the collapse of the European car was looming and that if we didn't move in time what had already happened with the tractor demonstrations would happen. And indeed it will happen on 5 February there will be a big demonstration of European trade unions, because reality is stronger than ideologies. It is precisely because we have vision that we have succeeded in saving the Italian car industry, making up for the disasters of the governments that preceded us, while in other countries - as the Volkswagen case shows - we close and lay off people,' Urso said.

Also today, Stellantis announced the completion of the sale of Comau to One Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. This transaction," Stellantis points out, "represents a significant step for Comau, fostering its growth in economic and technological terms. Moreover, thanks to this transaction, Stellantis will be able to focus on its core business in Europe.