Shaky situation not only in the United States for the Stellantis Group. Now Italy also faces a delicate period. The automotive sector is going through a difficult period in many ways. One of these is strikes, and Stellantis is in the center of attention. In particular, now struggling is the auto sector in Italy, which is currently going through a very delicate time. The staggering declines in vehicle production and the great uncertainties that are characterizing the imminent future have forced the unions to call a general strike, which has thousands of workers ready to go out into the various squares in protest. But what are the possible causes and above all, the consequences of this heavy situation?
The Italian automotive industry in great difficulty
As we mentioned earlier, the Italian automotive sector is now in great difficulty. Italian labor unions have called a general strike to be held on October 18, at Stellantis plants and its supplier companies. This would be the extreme move taken to combat the sharp drop in production, which as a result has caused great concern regarding future prospects.
2024 is a difficult year for Stellantis in Italy
In fact, we can see that 2024 is turning out to be a really complicated year for the Stellantis automotive group. According to the latest estimates performed by labor unions, production for Italy will be reduced by more than 250,000 cars in reference to last year, stopping at about 500,000 units. This is a collapse never seen until now, which is forcing a large number of workers to remain on layoff, strongly questioning the work that has been done until now in the Italian plants.
Difficulties also in the United States
However as we know the situation present at the moment in Italy, is by no means isolated. In the U.S. for example, the UAW United Auto Workers union recently announced the need to go on strike for the plants of General Motors, Ford and even Stellatis, highlighting a situation very similar to the current one in Italy. Just with Stellantis, the diatribes have been going on for several months now, and it seems that the issue is not yet fully resolved. Even in the United States, workers have been demanding from companies increases in wages, as well as better working situations and conditions and investments that are able to guarantee a certain number of annual production, with reference to the nation in which one is located. Therefore, the challenges that UAW is facing are also all still very open and worldwide in nature.
Reasons for the mass strike
There are several reasons behind this strong protest, however. The first, as we have already anticipated, is that of the sharp reduction in production of the cars. This issue was especially caused by the drastic drop in demand, particularly for electric vehicles, which forced Stellantis to decrease production very significantly. The trade unions, however, are strongly criticizing the fact that, in their view, there has been a lack of a real effective business strategy, which was supposed to be able to support the industrial plan in cooperation with the Italian government. The goal, according to the unions, should be to revive the industry, being able to safeguard employment levels in the area.
Search for new investors and strike on the way
So while the unions are busy taking to the streets with workers in symbol of protest, the government is desperately looking for new investors for the automotive sector, referring especially to Chinese companies. Despite this, the unions believe it is not a sufficient solution to solve all of Stellantis current problems, risking the creation of several unfair competitors as well.
The strike that will take place on October 18 will certainly be a major event for the relevant industry in the Italian territory. The hopes are that with time, a fair balance can be arrived at between the demands being made by the unions and the investments that Stellantis will decide to make available to the sector to resolve this heavy situation as soon as possible.