Italy wants to bring in more carmakers to boost domestic output

The Italian government has been making all possible efforts for  encouraging  car owners, apart from Fiat-owner Stellantis, to manufacture in the country in order to provide a boost to production, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso has said.

Addressing the Italian Parliament, Urso stressed that Rome aims to strike a deal with Stellantis for increasing the annual domestic production of cars and vans to 1 million vehicles by 2028.

"Italy deserves more than one automaker," Urso said, adding that government officials had reached out to major foreign carmakers with a view to establishing factories in the country.

"With some of them, we are in technical discussions on where to build new production plants," he said.

Two persons privy to the matter, said the government was in contact with electric car maker Tesla and an unspecified Chinese manufacturer.

Last weekend, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, attended a gathering of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party in Rome.

Production in Italy is expected to total just over 500,000 passenger cars this year against car registrations of more than 1.5 million vehicles in the country.

Stellantis, whose other brands include Alfa Romeo and Maserati, is Italy's sole major carmaker. 

(With Reuters inputs)