Stellantis invests in Italian LEV production

STELLANTIS has chosen Italy’s historic car making city of Turin as the centre of an investment program that will boost its role in low emission vehicle (LEV) production and act as a centre for the recycling of cars and their components.

According to a report published by Reuters, the group has signed an agreement with Belgian partner Punch Powertrain to increase production of electrified dual-clutch transmissions (eDCT) for hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at its Mirafiori plant.

The agreement forms part of a plan announced by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares this March to produce and sell more electric and hybrid vehicles, and to double revenue to €300 billion ($A447.3b) per annum by the end of the decade.

The Mirafiori site will complement the existing capacity of a plant in the French city of Metz, with Stellantis investing some €10 million ($14.9m) in the upgrade of its eDCT along the way.

Stellantis said it plans to produce 600,000 eDCT units annually at Mirafiori – which is slated to come online in the second half of 2024 – and a further 600,000 units at its facility in Metz. At full production, both sites will supply all relevant Stellantis production facilities across Europe.

The Mirafiori complex will also become a centre for Stellantis’ so-called ‘circular economy’ business, focusing on reconditioning and dismantling vehicles and reusing their components in a bid to outrun what Mr Tavares predicts will be a prolonged shortage of raw materials.

“We believe there will be scarcity of raw materials and we think we can extend the life of materials we use,” he said.

“This is going to be very important for our company. The scarcity of raw materials will continue over the next decades.”

Mr Tavares said Stellantis aims to bolster its recycling revenues ten-fold to €2 billion ($A2.9b) by 2030. Union officials say the operation will create as many as 550 addition jobs by 2025.

Including white-collar staff, the Mirafiori site now employs 20,000 workers.

Turin is the historic home of Fiat which merged with France’s PSA Group last year to form Stellantis. The Mirafiori site is one of Stellantis’ main production facilities in Italy along with Melfi in the south and Atessa’s Sevel for light commercial vehicles in the country’s centre.

Production at Mirafiori, which also hosts the Stellantis battery hub for Italy, includes the 500 EV, which is one of the group’s best-selling models in Europe.

with Reuters.