The attitude of Carlo Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, who has threatened the closure of the Mirafiori and Pomigliano factories is not surprising if the Italian government does not soon reach into its wallet to support the production of electric cars in Italy with more adequate incentives. His is not arrogance but the determination of a company leader who knows he is moving in one of the industrial sectors, the automotive sector, among the most ruthless and competitive, and therefore takes the paths he deems most convenient to achieve the company’s goals. Of course, the fact that Stellantis favors productions in France or in satellite countries, to the detriment of those in Italy, makes us jump because we feel betrayed, treated like a distant province of the empire when we participated as protagonists in the construction of the empire. However, it makes little sense to protest against the claims of those who lead it today: like it or not, he is doing what he was called to do. Nor is it worth going into the merits of his requests which, whether appropriate or not, will certainly be rejected by the sender (despite the nightmare of the Chinese advance should prompt some reflection).
Instead, it is worth asking ourselves how it was possible that the main Italian industrial group, which Sergio Marchionne had brought back to the honor of the world under the name of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), became the handmaiden of a company, the French Peugeot (PSA), whose conditions were certainly no better. A question that should be addressed to shareholder John Elkann, who did not hesitate to close a sale agreement to the advantage above all of his Exor, regardless (…)
(…) of the fact that for Italy – from which Fiat had obtained many billions of support in various forms over the decades – it would have represented a serious loss of industrial power as well as image. To the point that a prudent, albeit biased, figure like Romano Prodi did not hesitate to speak of a “shameful sell-out”. He was the only one among the political leaders to raise his voice. Indeed, Giuseppe Conte, then prime minister for the second time, explicitly spoke of a “great opportunity for the country”. And it was his government that in June 2020, on the eve of the merger that would have created Stellantis, authorized within twenty-four hours the disbursement of a state guarantee for a 6.3 billion loan granted by Intesa Sanpaolo.
Power of coincidences, within a few weeks FCA shareholders will receive a monstrous dividend of 5.5 billion as well as a rich endowment in Comau shares. Why this incredible impoverishment of FCA’s assets? Everything was explained by a slimming down made necessary for the merger between FCA and PSA to be on par. Reviewed today in the form of a trailer, that film cannot fail to raise heavy curiosity, also in light of the fact that in April 2020, i.e. three months earlier, Elkann had announced the acquisition of the Gedi publishing group, which owns the newspaper Republic.
Past history, some will say; but those events revisited closely suggest a reading that facilitates the understanding of what is happening today: since it was not a merger but a real transfer, why be surprised if the new owners threaten the cancellation of Mirafiori, heart and history of the glorious Fiat? Fiom and CGIL didn’t say a word at the time of that exchange: today they are called upon to explain why to the thousands of workers who are risking their jobs.
2024-02-03 09:00:00
#disguised #sale #Elkann #explain
