ROME (Reuters) -Talks between the Italian government and China’s Dongfeng Motor Group about building an auto plant in Italy are at an advanced stage, Italian sources close to the matter said on Tuesday.
The negotiations are part of efforts to attract another major automaker to the country in addition to Stellantis, the country’s sole major automaker whose brands include Fiat and Alfa Romeo.
The Rome government could join Dongfeng with a minority stake in the investment which aims to set up a hub for the whole of Europe, the sources added.
The potential deal could also involve other key investors, including Italian companies from the components sector, they added.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist government wants to raise domestic auto production to 1.3 million vehicles a year, from below 800,000 in 2023.
It has been discussing with Stellantis the possible increase of the group’s Italian annual output to one million units by the end of the decade. The automaker last hit the target in 2017.
Italy has been in talks also with other major automakers, including China’s Chery Auto about potential investments in the country.
Last week Meloni went to China to boost co-operation with the world’s second-largest economy and reset trade ties after Italy left the Belt and Road scheme.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Gavin Jones and Keith Weir)
