Sources: Gasgoo
Dongfeng Motor is in preliminary talks with the Italian government about producing cars in the country to help boost its international business.
Qian, head of Dongfeng Motor’s European operations, said on April 16 that Dongfeng was considering building a factory in Italy with a capacity of 100,000 vehicles a year. After clashing with Stellantis over its plans to cut jobs and move jobs to lower-cost locations, the Italian government has been trying to attract another automaker.
“Italy is one of the biggest car markets in Europe. For a Chinese automaker, building a plant there means it can supply all the other countries around the Europe.” Qian said in an interview in Milan.
Qian also revealed that the current negotiations between Dongfeng Motor and the Italian government are going well, and the Italian government will offer Dongfeng some options for production sites in the coming weeks.
Image source: Dongfeng
If the reports is true, the relationship between the Italian government and Stellantis may goes worse. Stellantis’s chief executive warned that his company would have to make “unpopular decisions”, including plant closures, if the Italian government intends to introduce a Chinese automaker to set up plant there.
In fact, Dongfeng Motor is a partner of Stellantis in Chinese market. Dongfeng is responsible for the production of Peugeot and Citroen brand cars. In addition to Stellantis, Dongfeng also works with foreign automakers such as Honda and Nissan. However, due to the demand of gasoline cars has been declining in the Chinese market, Dongfeng Motor felt pressure in China. In 2023, cumulative sales of Dongfeng Motor are 2,421,227 vehicles and the number is declining about 17 percent compared with last year. So the group starts to set its sights on global market.
“In Italy, we can draw on all the strong traditions of the country’s automotive industry.” Qian said. He also added that while Dongfeng strongly believes in the future of electric vehicles, the company needs to focus on hybrid vehicles in Italy for now.
Currently, Italy still lags behind the rest of Europe in the adoption of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles accounted for about 4 percent of total car sales in Italy last year which is below the average of nearly 15 percent in European.
