In Addition To BYD, The Italian Government Intends To Get A Chery To Increase Local Production

JAKARTA - The Italian government is in talks with Chery, a vehicle manufacturer from China, to pull the brand into producing cars in Italy other than Stellantis.

Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister of Industry, expressed his desire to have a second automotive manufacturer that could increase production to 300,000 vehicles at the national level.

If talks succeed, Chery will be one of the first Chinese automakers to operate in the European manufacturing sector, which is likely to increase competition with local manufacturers, especially in the electric vehicle segment (EV).

Jochen Tueting, Managing Director of Chery Europe, expressed hope for high-speed sales of Chery cars in Europe to support local assembly.

"We are exploring various opportunities across Europe to discover potential local manufacturing in the future," said Tueting, quoted by Reuters, Thursday, March 14.

Previously, the local government had been in talks with other manufacturers, such as Tesla, and three automotive companies from China last month, one of which was BYD.

Recently, Italian authorities were also reportedly in talks with BYD to assemble their vehicles locally. This is likely to be the second BYD vehicle assembly facility in Europe following the announcement of the factory construction in Hungary last December.