Italian automobile production is returning to its lowest 60s period
- Italian automobile production was one of the largest in Europe. Born at the beginning of the 20th century, it grew significantly from 1950 to 1973, going from 100,000 to 1,800,000 passenger cars produced in twenty-three years, thereby creating the second European automobile carmaker (Fiat) behind the German Volkswagen. The Fiat Mirafiori factory was then operating at full capacity, with Fiat producing the majority of its automobiles on this plant. Among the most produced cars in this factory are the Fiat 500, Fiat 600, Fiat 850, Fiat 1100, Fiat 1300, Fiat 1500, Fiat 124, Fiat 125, Fiat 127, Fiat 128, Fiat 131 and Fiat 132. Alongside the giant Fiat, Alfa-Romeo, Lancia and Autobianchi completed the offer of the Italian automobile industry.
- The country's production volume began to decline between 1973 and 1985, falling from 1,800,000 to 1,400,000 units. After 1985, the production volume increased again, from 1,400,000 to 2,000,000 units in 1989.
- After this date, the volume of production of passenger cars in Italy truly collapsed, falling to 500,000 in 2023. The explanation of this plunge is due on one hand to the partial relocation of the Fiat production in Poland and Serbia, and on the other hand the decrease in sales of Fiat (the discontinuation of the Punto being undoubtedly one of the most important factors) but also the sales decrease of Alfa-Romeo, Lancia and Autobianchi (brand which eventually disappeared). Sergio Marchionne (CEO of Fiat-Chrysler) even planned to stop Alfa-Romeo and Lancia.
- Today, Stellantis (through the Fiat brand alone) has become practically the only automobile producer in Italy, and as a result, the future of the Italian automobile industry depends solely on Stellantis' willingness to continue producing in Italy or not.