Automotive News Europe — 2024-07-18
Automotive Industry
Stellantis aims to increase production of its electrified dual-clutch gearboxes by 10%.
Stellantis plans to bolster production of transmission systems for hybrid vehicles as weaker demand for full-electric cars pushes automakers to change course.
Stellantis aims to increase production of its electrified dual-clutch gearboxes by 10%, said Leonardo Rossi, manager of the plant in Mirafiori that makes the product.
Meanwhile, output of the electric Fiat 500 at a nearby site is being halted.
“There is increased demand for hybrids, so there won’t be much vacation at all for us,” Rossi said in an interview at the factory, which employs about 600 people.
Demand for hybrid vehicles has seen an uptick in recent months as consumers seek options that are more affordable and less dependent on lagging charging infrastructure than the EVs on offer.
Stellantis is expanding its hybrid lineup with a plan to have 30 models in Europe this year and six new ones through 2026.
Through a joint venture with Punch Powertrain, Stellantis has current capacity for more than 1.2 m electrified dual-clutch transmissions, or eDCTs, per year in its two sites of Mirafiori and Metz in northern France, which supply 11 car plants.
The company currently produces hybrid vehicles in more than 70% of its plants in Europe.
Stellantis is investing to reinvent the historical site of Mirafiori after CEO Carlos Tavares shifted much car production to lower-cost countries.
During its heyday in the 1970s, the site employed some 50,000 Fiat workers and produced more than 600,000 cars a year.
The Italian government is concerned about preserving jobs after Stellantis’ local car production in Italy fell 36% in the first half of 2024.
In Mirafiori, where the electric Fiat 500 is assembled, production slumped 63% during that period and is halted again from 15 July to 25 Augusts 2024, two labor unions have said.
Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, at a Stellantis event in Turin last week (second week of July 2024) to celebrate Fiat’s 125th anniversary, called on Tavares to make “responsible” choices on jobs, saying he does not want to see the site transformed into a “museum” for the automotive industry.
Stellantis has pledged to invest €240 m ($262 m) in the overhaul of Mirafiori. The complex is also home to the company’s new battery technology center and a circular economy hub that currently employees roughly 500 people.
The company has spent €40 m on each of those two sites.