Italy to offer defunct Stellantis brands to Chinese automakers, report says

ROME, July 12 (Reuters) – Italy’s government is considering taking over by decree defunct auto brands owned by Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab, and offering them to Chinese companies to encourage them to set up factories in Italy, Il Sole 24 Ore daily reported on Friday.

The plan would involve the Innocenti and Autobianchi brands, both shut down in the 1990s.

Innocenti was famous in the 1960s and 1970s for producing an Italian version of the British Mini, before it was taken over by Fiat, now part of Stellantis. Former Fiat unit Autobianchi produced upmarket city cars such as the A112 and Y10.

Il Sole said the government’s appropriation would be made possible under a law passed in December and a draft implementing decree, under examination by the Court of Auditors, concerning brands that have been unused for at least five years.

Once under government control, they could be given to “companies, including foreign ones, that intend to invest in Italy or move to Italy manufacturing activities located abroad,” the law says.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist government has for months been at loggerheads with Fiat-parent Stellantis, accusing the automaker of neglecting its historic production bases in Italy.

It is engaged in talks with the group, the country’s sole major automaker, to boost Italian production to 1 million vehicles per year, but also said it wants to expand the domestic industry by attracting a Chinese automaker to Italy.

On Thursday, Fiat unveiled at its historic Turin headquarters in northern Italian its Serbian-made Panda model and celebrated its 125th anniversary. Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, who attended the event, again urged Stellantis to relaunch its manufacturing activities in Italy.