Alexandre
The Mirafiori plant in Turin is the heart of production for the electric Fiat 500 and several Maserati models. Yet this year, 2024, has been marked by a series of production interruptions, plunging the plant and its employees into a critical situation. After shutdowns at the beginning of the year, then in April, May, june and julyThe plant was due to resume its cruising speed in September, after the August vacations. However, this was not to be, and short-time working will continue, affecting 3,100 employees.
On August 7, a crucial meeting will be held between the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, represented by Adolfo Urso, Stellantis managers and trade unions. The aim of the meeting is to discuss measures to boost production and propose new subsidies for the purchase of electric cars over the next three years. This meeting is particularly eagerly awaited, not only by Mirafiori employees, but also by those from the Termoli plant, which is also experiencing difficulties.
For the unions, the situation is alarming. They are calling for accelerated production of the Fiat 500 hybrid, scheduled for late 2025. Without this new production line, 2025 could look like 2024, with a large part of the year marked by short-time working. The unions stress the urgent need for institutional intervention at all levels to avoid a dramatic decline at the Mirafiori plant.
The General Secretary of FIOM-CGIL Turin expressed virulent criticism of the Elkan/Agnelli family. "The only 'Turin' family to have benefited from Fiat's merger with PSA is the Elkan/Agnelli family. It is precisely for this reason that FIOM Turin is urgently calling for institutional intervention at all levels to produce new models at Mirafiori and halt this dramatic decline."
The year 2024 will be remembered as one of almost permanent short-time working for Mirafiori employees. The current situation calls for immediate measures to relaunch production and ensure a more stable future for the plant and its workers. The meeting on August 7 will be decisive for the future of Mirafiori, and could provide the long-awaited solutions to this crisis. The only short-term solution would be purchase aid for the electric 500, which is still shunned by Italians. No short-term solutions are planned for Maserati models.
The automakers rushed into the intensive production of electric vehicles without thinking too hard about what their customers wanted. As electric cars are far from being unanimously accepted, they are left to wonder which production options they will have to turn to in the future.
+1
Stop the 500th small battery
I've been saying the same thing for the last 5 years... the use of electric cars is limited to short trips in the outskirts of cities, provided you have a garage with electricity! In the city, car travel has become useless and impossible, thanks to the public authorities.