The clouds on Fca Cassino Plant? Less black than the first few days – AlessioPorcu.it

Cautious optimism about the future of the Fca Cassino Plant. Production is at 30% and cuts may occur. The end of Giorgio? "To replace it with a platform more suited to hybrid and electric". Retired in 500 but no employees

The merger between FCA-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is PSA-Peugeot it can only do good for the economy of the province of Frosinone and its most important establishment: Cassino Plant. The main one is convinced bank of the territory, the mayor of Cassino, the president of the industrial consortium Cosilam, the secretary of the Uil metalworkers.

They said it very clearly during the first episode of the new season of "At Open Doors“, The weekly in-depth on Thursday on Teleuniverso, conducted this year by Fabio Cortina. The mayor was confronted on the subject of the industrial merger between the two automobile groups Enzo Salera, Professor Vincenzo Formisano vice president of Banca Popolare del Cassinate, the president of Cosilam Marco Delle Cese and the secretary of Uilm Francesco Giangrande.

Less clouds on the future

Just Giangrande tried to dispel the clouds on the future of the factory in Piedimonte San Germano, without hiding behind a finger and analyzing the current crisis that we live in the plant. That has broke the 100 day cash wall. The analysis is very simple: "The Cassino plant is working at 30% of its capacity, and this is not because we are missing something, but because the crisis in the sector has literally clipped the wings of development projects put on paper by Sergio Marchionne".

Those projects saw Giulia is Stelvio as global competitors with the big German brands. And Cassino as the cradle of these supercars. It did not happen that way, neither in Europe, nor in the USA nor in China. The only way, as Giangrande pointed out, was the merger: "From this marriage – said the trade unionist – not only will the fourth global group be born for sales, but an entity that can also aspire to the podium". Such as? With the skills and capabilities of Italian factories, combined with the cutting-edge electric and hybrid French.

The risk for Cassino Plant is high: because it is an excellent establishment but only 30% of its possibilities work. In practice: it does not produce profits. And in the case of cuts it is normal that the first branches to be pruned are unproductive ones.

The Premium that does not exist

President Cosilam offers a more optimistic reading Marco Delle Cese than analyzing the joint document FCA-PSA stressed a passage: "PSA does not have a Premium segment, with a part of production entrusted to the DS startup. We in Italy have Alfa Romeo is Maserati, we in Cassino have the factory that produces them and that today produces a third of its maximum capacity. This is the great opportunity to seize".

There Peugeot 508 rival of Giulia it is not one Premium? In the interpretation key proposed by the president of Cosilam la 508 is an equal category della Giulia, in the sense that it is a car of the same segment. But it is not one Premium, that is, it has no added value given by the prestige of the brand.

Concept on which Professor stresses Vincenzo Formisano. "I am confident because our productions have no equal». So why didn't they bring the satisfaction that Fca expected from the markets? "Alfa and Maserati are global products that pay more than all the uncertainty, the crisis and the wrong choices even by governments. Now it's up to Italy and it's up to the territory to support this renaissance».

The economist reads the data on Cassino production reduced to the bone in a different way. "The Cassino plant is very productive, but you have to sell and here sales are scarce and lead to poor production. It's all about sales».

The Giorgio case

Meanwhile we look at the present: in Cassino the lines with hybrid models will start in a year, with Giulia, Stelvio and Levantino. "Autumn 2020 will be very positive"He prophesied Francesco Giangrande. Then, if the marriage goes through, the PSA models will also arrive and those will arrive thanks to ad hoc platforms, lines that already provide the hybrid and that will take the place of those already present.

Here because George, the platform from which they are born Giulia is Stelvio, is destined to have a short life. The CEO of FCA announced it Mike Manley a few hours after the merger. Which means the end of the production of the two Alfa cars in Cassino, within a few years. (read here Fca greets Giorgio, the 'base' on which Giulia and Stelvio are born)

But as Giangrande pointed out: "Giorgio will live as long as the market requires it".

And then? The forecast is that for the future one of the platforms developed by Psa will be adopted or a new one will be developed together, on which to build Premium models. Why then don't keep Giorgio? Why is designed as a platform for traditional engines: the hybrid and the electric require quite different solutions and volumes. Better then to start from a different platform.

The faults of the ecobonus

So is everything okay? No. The plant is experiencing a very serious crisis, those inside it perceive it, given the over 500 retirements and zero hires. "We are certain that everything will work out for the best – concluded Giangrande – but if production remains at these levels it is clear that work will continue to be reorganized. With these volumes there will be a need to make better use of the spaces within the sheds". More diplomatic than an ambassador, the secretary went the long way to sweeten a pill called "redundancies".

The risk now is that politics will take our nose. "Politics must not intervene on the merger – claimed Enzo Salera – but once it has happened it must work on taxation. Last year I took the insults at the gates, but then I tried to make the workers understand the problem that the ecobonus would create. The whistles were kept for me, but now they too understand that we were the only nation that put a tax on penalizing the only Italian car company ».