European battery venture Automotive Cells Company (ACC) has put on hold plans to build electric vehicle battery gigafactories in Italy and Germany, Italy’s metalworkers’ union UILM said.
UILM said the decision affects a proposed facility in Termoli as well as a separate German project, prompting fresh uncertainty over the long-term outlook for the Italian site and its workforce.
In a statement attributed to Gianluca Ficco, UILM’s national secretary for the automotive sector, and Francesco Guida, general secretary of UILM in Campobasso, the union said “the management of ACC confirmed what we have been fearing for some time, namely that ACC's project to build a Gigafactory in Termoli is definitively set aside, as well as in Germany. The only way to safeguard the Termoli plant becomes, therefore, the immediate arrival of mechanical production”.
The union cited earlier proposals from its backer Stellantis to allocate production of an electrified dual-clutch transmission (EDCT) hybrid gearbox to Termoli and to update the GSE engine to meet Euro 7 requirements.
It noted that the operational details have not yet been set out.
ACC, a Stellantis-Mercedes-Saft joint venture, was founded in August 2020 and focuses on EV battery technology.
It operates an R&D centre in Bruges (Bordeaux) and a pilot plant in Nersac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, while its first gigafactory in Billy-Berclau Douvrin began production in late 2023, with ramp-up continuing through 2024.
UILM called for an urgent meeting with Stellantis leadership, arguing that the end of the ACC gigafactory plan should be matched by “clear and consistent industrial choices”.
The union also raised concerns about 34 Italian employees - including 21 former Stellantis workers - already recruited by ACC and currently based in France, saying it intends to ask Stellantis to take them back on.
Referring to Termoli’s industrial record, UILM said: “Termoli has been a leader in the production of engines and gearboxes for 54 years, accumulating indispensable skills and professionalism.
“The near future of the plant must be linked to mechanics, engines and gearboxes, sectors in which Termoli has proved, over time, to be an excellence.”
