Italy’s auto sector could lose 60,000 jobs unless the state comes to the rescue, Fiat’s CEO has said.
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“If the government doesn’t intervene, the risk that 60,000 workers in the automotive sector have stay at home is real,” Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne was quoted by Italy’s Ansa news agency as saying, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We are expecting measures for the entire automotive sector, which is currently selling 60% less than last year,” he said.
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has ruled out state aid for the car industry but called a meeting on the issue for later this week.
The UK government on Tuesday afternoon outlined a GBP2.3bn loans package to help struggling automakers.
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By GlobalData“We expect help from the government for the entire car sector,” Marchionne was cited by a Reuters source as saying. “It’s not about helping Fiat but restarting an entire sector and the whole economy.”
Bruno Vitali of the FIM-CISL union was quoted by Corriere della Sera and other local news outlets as saying on Monday that 60,000 jobs in the car industry were at risk.
France and Germany have recently announced measures to aid their auto industries.
Marchionne met on Monday with European Union industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen in Turin, Fiat’s hometown, to discuss ways to overcome the crisis, Reuters said.
Verheugen, who visited Paris last week, has described the outlook for the region’s industry as brutal with no guarantee that all car makers will survive.
