In the Italian industrial panorama, two names evoke a glorious past: Fiat, now part of Stellantis, and Ilva (Acciaierie d'Italia) once queen of European steel. Today, both are bogged down in deep crisis, different in nature but equally burdensome for the national economy. There is a lack of innovation, the industrial strategy is confused, public policies have arrived late and international competitiveness is running much faster. Without rapid interventions, the future risks leaving only rubble.
The Stellantis Case: Declining Production and Confused Strategies
2024 was a difficult year for Stellantis in Italy, but 2025 started even worse. In the first six months, the total vehicle production (cars and commercial vehicles) it fell by 26,9%,from 303.571 to 221.885 units. The most alarming data concerns cars alone, whose production fell by 33,6% compared to the same period in 2024. The crisis is transversal: all the main Italian establishments are involved, with dramatic percentages in some cases: Melfi -59,4% Pomigliano -24% mirafiori -21,5%. TO Modena (-71,9%) only 45 cars were produced in six months, more similar to a craft workshop than an industrial factory. Even Cassino,Sevel e Termoli are recording contractions, between technical stoppages, postponed investments and productions reduced to the bare minimum. In the meantime, the delay in putting the production of new Fiat 500 hybrid – initially scheduled for the first months of 2025, now postponed to November – further postpones the benefits expected for Turin.
Delayed Investments and Outdated Models
The causes are many, but they converge on a common point: a industrial management private of a strategic vision clear. Stellantis, in the transition from Fiat Chrysler to the current conglomerate born from the merger with PSA, inherited a fleet of models that were now dated and opted for minimal updates, rather than focusing on new projects capable of supporting employment and innovation. Added to this is a electrical transition too slow and investments continually announced but never fully implemented.
The long-awaited gigafactory of Termoli, designed to produce batteries for electric vehicles, has been postponed several times. It was supposed to open in 2026, with around 1.800 hires planned; today, in mid-2025, the timetable is still shrouded in fog. In the meantime, vehicle production has stopped, sales are falling and the group is losing ground to Chinese and American giants (such as Byd, Tesla e Geely).
Le Forecasts unions indicate that, by the end of the year, production in Italy will stop at 400 thousand units, against 475.090 in 2024. The cars produced will not exceed 250 thousand, with a direct impact on thousands of jobs: in Melfi alone, since 2021, over 2.000 workers have already left with voluntary incentives, and the trend seems destined to continue elsewhere.
The ex Ilva case: the steel issue between shutdowns, cleanups and promises
While Stellantis slows down, the former Ilva of Taranto it's practically farm, repeating the bitter Italian habit: waiting for everything to collapse before deciding who should intervene. Once the driving force of the national steel industry, today the steelworks is a stalled colossus that generates more uncertainty than steel.
The heated debate: 48 hours to decide, but without agreements
Monday July 7 End, Fiom e Uilm they met with the ministers Adolfo Urso (Companies) and Marina Calderone (Work). Today, Tuesday 8, an indefinite inter-ministerial session began with local authorities and extraordinary commissioners to address the future of production and employment. "I have cleared my agenda for the next two days - said Urso - because we have 48 hours to decide". But the enthusiasm was immediately cooled by the president of the Puglia Region, Michele Emiliano: "No agreement today, we start from scratch". Even the mayor of Taranto, Piero Bitetti, asked for clarity on the proposals, underlining the responsibility but refusing to "say yes in the dark".
Production in free fall and employment risk growing
Despite the 200 million allocated by the State, the plants remain largely at a standstill: blast furnace 2(Afo2) it's been stopped for a long time, theAfo4 is afflicted by chronic breakdowns and, since May 7, also theAfo1 is out of order due to a fire which led to his seizure by the judiciary. Production has fallen from 6 to 4 million tons per year and is set to fall further. The nearly 4.000 workers in layoffs – 3.538 in Taranto alone – represent only the tip of the iceberg of an occupational risk that involves over 10 thousand people and thousands of related companies.
Baku Steel plan fails, former Ilva remains at a standstill
Just a few months ago, the agreement with the Azerbaijani consortium Baku Steel seemed close: optimism reigned in the corridors of the ministry, press conferences promised an imminent revival. Then the fire, the seizure of the blast furnace and the step back of the Azeris, probably linked to the no of the local authorities and the unions to the regasification vessel – a key infrastructure to power future DRI (direct iron reduction) plants, fundamental for decarbonisation.
A hard blow for the government, which was counting on a private partner to revive the steelworks. Now, with no investors on the horizon, the burden of restructuring falls on the State. nationalization – once unpronounceable – has returned to the forefront of Roman palaces: for many it is no longer an ideological choice, but a lifeline. However, Minister Urso recalled the constitutional constraints (article 43), explaining that Ilva is not included among essential public services or monopolies. A prudential stop, which cools the hypothesis of a direct expropriation and brings the debate back to the political level: commissioner to the bitter end or a new business plan publicBut with private partners?
Ex Ilva: ballast or locomotive?
The crisis of the former Ilva is not simply a corporate issue: it is the mirror of a country having difficulty managing its own industrial transitions. At a time when Germany is investing to bring manufacturing back to its borders, Italy finds itself wondering whether the blast furnace is still on.
The case highlights structural delays on decarbonisation, security, governance and long-term strategic vision. Years of broken promises and postponed decisions have led to irreversible degradation. sindacati they raise alarms and ask for permanent tables and urgent interventions, but in the workshops there is more dust than steel. Taranto has already paid a very high price in environmental, health and social terms and today it is trapped between two opposing slogans: "We cannot close" and "We cannot continue like this".
The real paradox is that the crisis of the former Ilva goes beyond the single plant, becoming the symbol of an industrial Italy that does not decide, does not plan and does not protect. What was a steel locomotive has become a dead weight for the entire production system.
A fragile industrial framework: strategic sectors in difficulty
In this scenario, Stellantis and the former Ilva seem like two sides of the same coin: a country that has stopped believing in its own industry. Where large factories no longer produce the future, but uncertainty. Where every crisis turns into a déjà vu. And where the price is always paid by the same people: workers, families, territories.
Italy can no longer afford to float between postponements, technical tables and unfulfilled promises. Without a strong industry, irrelevance in Europe is no longer a threat, but an increasingly concrete destiny.
