If the government calls on China to produce electric cars in Italy: “Economic and social suicide”

“To think that from 2035 we will no longer produce motorized cars but only electric cars is economic and social suicide. How to deliver to China. » Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was very clear yesterday even if he did not cite Byd Co, a leading company in the production of electric batteries. The captain, who lately tends to find as many arguments as possible to distinguish himself from the majority and the Brothers of Italy, is playing his personal game (and his survival within the League) for the European elections. But until a year ago, Giorgia Meloni also thought so, who a year ago welcomed the postponement of the vote on banning the sale of gasoline cars in the EU, saying that this “would benefit China”. But as politics is the art of the possible, the government which is looking for an alternative to the gradual disengagement of Stellantis in Italy is now turning precisely to Beijing.

Build your dreams

This was explained yesterday by Michael Shu, CEO of Byd Europe, whose acronym means Build your dreams: “We are in contact with Italy to discuss” entering the Italian market as producers. On the other hand, the Chinese electric car giant surpassed Tesla's sales in the last quarter of 2023 and sold three million cars. It is now turning to Europe, where it still only sells 13,500 cars, but is already present in 19 countries and 230 dealerships. The goal is to sell 800,000 units by 2030, thanks also to the construction of the first car and battery factory in Hungary, which will be operational within three years. And Budapest is today at the center of his reflections: Viktor Orbán is clearly ahead of his ally Meloni in the project. For Beijing, producing in Europe is useful because it avoids the EU investigation into public subsidies and competition from Chinese industry which imports to Europe.

The invasion

In Rome, however, an ally is needed to replace Stellantis, who is gradually moving away from Italy and Turin. “We are working on the hypothesis of a second automobile company in Italy,” said Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso yesterday, while specifying that contacts with BYD go back in time. And remembering that the project concerns cars produced in Italy with Italian components, not assembled. To make the proposal attractive, the Meloni government will put on the table incentives and abandoned factories from North to South, such as Termini Imerese. “In Europe, we are the only ones to have a single manufacturer. During AutomotiveNews wrote that Mirafiori could host platforms for electric city cars from another Chinese company by 2027. However, it is Leapmotor, with which Stellantis has set up a joint venture that it controls at 51 % after spending 1.5 billion euros.

Other Chinese companies in Italy

And not only. While the ministry says that the same invitation has arrived at Chery, Toyota and Tesla, Omoda (owned by Chery) is also thinking of Bel Paese: “We intend to build a factory in Europe. Italy is one of the possible options”, explains Tony Wang-Gang, manager of the brand. But Saic Motor Italy is also on the launch pad: “Italy is an important market, where we achieve significant figures. It is on the shortlist of countries in which to build the factory.” The gradual disengagement of the Elkanns frightens the executive. Here then is the solution which, as happens in these cases, opens up a whole other series of problems. The first is that with Europe, which on the contrary was gradually closing the areas of the automobile sector in the East. “The Trojan horses are in the history books, Europe must be protected from the Chinese,” believes Roberto di Maulo of Fismic Confsal.

Italian automobile factory in Beijing

But the issue remains above all political. The Meloni government based its program on the defense of Italianness, moving almost towards autarky. But now that things are getting complicated, he's starting to play with the tough guys in Beijing. In doing so, this demonstrates that the attractiveness of Italy compared to other European countries is low. And this is a problem that cannot be solved even with ten Pnrr. And then he discovers his right flank, on this highway of political propaganda that Salvini has already shown he wants to travel to avoid the League being perceived as the (bad) copy of the Brothers of Italy. Meanwhile, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavarez says: “Last year we increased production in Italy by 9.6% to almost 752,000 vehicles. The goal of one million cars could be reached very, very quickly. But this could also be compromised if another manufacturer starts working in Italy. “If we invited more Chinese car companies to produce in Europe, do you think that would help?” he told reporters in mid-February.

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