One year of extraordinary layoffs in Mirafiori and Canavese to kick off the electric 500. The group communicated to the unions that from 31 December 2018 to 29 December 2019 the CIG will be applied to reorganize the production lines and that there will be no layoffs, "indeed a future for Mirafiori", given that "investments in the 500E allow access the use of social safety nets to reorganise”. The car is one of the flagships of the FCA's new investment plan in Italy, equal to over 5 billion euros by 2021, announced last week by the head of the EMEA, Pietro Gorlier.
In spreading the news in more detail, Fim Cisl explained that the Cigs and training program provides for the gradual return from Agap to Mirafiori of 800 workers starting from January 2019, to be included in professional refresher courses. The workforce concerned will be that of Mirafiori overall, with 2.445 units as at 31 December 2018 to arrive to 3.245 employees as of 4 March 2019, through a year of Cig for reorganization, until 29 December 2019.
Operational management, such as rotation, the balance between Cig and work days for individual workers, already anticipated by the company, will be the result of discussions with the Mirafiori Rds executive. “We are in full linearity of a path which is aimed, with the new models, at relaunching Mirafiori, avoiding layoffs. Incentivized and voluntary exits will also be used, but this too was already agreed in April, including by Fiom” underlined Claudio Chiarle, general secretary of Fim-Cisl Turin and Canavese.
Confirming the production of the Maserati Levante, the investments will concern all areas of Mirafiori: bodywork, painting, assembly, logistics, RG Premium Center and the Subgroups Unit with the aim of allowing the industrialization and production of the 500E. "'We are at the concrete restart, albeit paradoxically with the use of a social shock absorber, but everyone, and those who deny it do so instrumentally so as not to admit his mistakes, we know that the path to relaunch Mirafiori had to have these three phases: announcement of investments with 5 billion in Italy, management with shock absorber without layoffs, with training and retraining and production of new models”, concluded Chiarle.
The position taken by the Fim Cisl cuts short some circulated assumptions which attributed the return to the Redundancy Fund to the drop in sales in Europe recorded by FCA. According to Promotor data, the car market in Italy recorded a setback with a drop of 6,3%, to 146.991 registrations, and 3,5% in the eleven months. "The slowdown of some zero-kilometre houses weighed on a substantially stagnant market, but also the growing awareness on the part of the public of the exhaustion of the economic recovery" indicated the automotive study center.
FCA registered over 35 cars in November for a share of 24,1%, up 0,7 percentage points compared to 23,4% in October but down 9,83%% compared to November 2017 Jeep increased sales by 34,3%, while the brand increased by 71,7% over the year. "Even in November in a market influenced by the Wltp regulation, FCA continues with its strategy of favoring more profitable sales channels, such as private individuals, fleets and long-term rental," explained Gorlier.
In November, FCA's market share in Italy was practically only "private", which testifies to how the company has decided to reposition itself by focusing on profitability. «In the private sales market – underlines Gorlier – we obtained a 1,5 percentage points higher share compared to last month and 2,4 points compared to November 2017».
In the US market, FCA sold 181.310 cars, up 17% on the same month in 2017. At the retail level last month, sales amounted to 136.704 units, up 6%; this is also the best figure since 2001. Fleet sales totaled 44.606 cars. It was once again a record month for the Ram pickup truck brand (+44% to 57.970 units), as well as for Jeep (+12% to 73.784)
