Dongfeng, Stellantis’ Chinese partner with which it has a joint venture to produce Peugeot and Citroen vehicles, is reportedly interested in producing its electrified vehicles in Italy. The Chinese automaker is expected to produce over 100,000 vehicles per year, including EVs and hybrids. The Italian government has been trying for months to encourage foreign automakers to produce their vehicles in the country, such as Chery and BYD, which have however chosen Spain and Hungary for their European plants.
The Italian government’s goal is to exceed 1 million cars produced in Italy each year, a production that Stellantis cannot guarantee on its own. For this reason, other automakers are needed in Italy.
Dongfeng ready to produce 100,000 cars per year in Italy
The news of this negotiation was confirmed by Qian Xie, head of Dongfeng’s operations in Europe. There is talk of a new plant where 100,000 cars per year would be produced. Xie, who was in Milan these days for an event, said that producing cars in Italy could be very important for his company as it would allow the manufacturer to supply all the main European markets. Furthermore, Italy is one of the main car markets and therefore having a hub here would be really perfect for the company.
“Discussions with the Italian government are at an early stage: they want to establish a relationship of trust and then deepen it,” Xie said. Minister Adolfo Urso had said he wanted to increase the number of car manufacturers producing cars in Italy so as not to be solely dependent on Stellantis. With this strategy, Minister Urso also intends to put pressure on Stellantis, which recently changed its name to Alfa Romeo Milano due to controversy over its name and production location. The group led by Carlos Tavares disagreed with welcoming new automakers to Italy, saying this will only increase competition.
Last year Dongfeng sold 1.72 million vehicles, although its best year was 2017, when it sold 2.83 million vehicles.