ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider World devider Italy unveils near billion-euro plan to boost cleaner cars

Italy unveils near billion-euro plan to boost cleaner cars

Published Feb 1, 2024 03:14 pm
AFP__20240201__34HE6AA__v3__Preview__TopshotBelgiumEuPoliticsSummitDiplomacy.jpg
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (L), European Council President Charles Michel, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (3rdR), Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a multilateral meeting on the sidelines of a European Council meeting at the European headquarters in Brussels, on February 1, 2024. EU leaders are to gather in Brussels on February 1, 2024, for a meeting of the European Council, where they will discuss aid to Ukraine as the war nears its second anniversary. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)


ROME, Italy– Italy on Thursday announced a 950-million-euro plan to boost the car industry, a move welcomed by automaker Stellantis which had accused Rome of a lack of commitment to electric vehicles.

Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso said the new "car incentive plan" for 2024 involved three goals -- to scrap the most polluting cars, to help families on low incomes swap out their old vehicles, and "incentivise production" in Italy.

"We must absolutely change course compared to what happened to recent years," Urso said at a roundtable on the automobile industry, according to a statement.

It said the package was worth almost one billion euros.

Stellantis, created in a merger with France's Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat-Chrysler in 2021, and which includes Italian brands Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lancia, has already pledged to produce a million vehicles in Italy by 2030.

But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni earlier this month criticised the group, saying some choices it had made were "distant from Italian interests".

Stellantis made some 685,000 vehicles in Italy in 2022, slightly more than the 678,000 made by the group in France.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares hit back in an interview published earlier Thursday, saying that in Italy there was "open opposition against electric motors".

The group's head of corporate affairs in Italy, Davide Mele, who attended Thursday's roundtable, welcomed Urso's announcement.

"Today we have reached a new milestone to having the necessary tools to help a market that for too long has failed to take the correct path of energy transition, relegating Italy to the back of European developments of four-wheel electrification," it said.

"Now we can all get to the starting line, bringing our collective energy and our skills to obtain the best result."

He emphasised "once again our strong commitment to the country", repeating the one-million vehicle pledge.

But he said this was contingent on certain conditions, including the "long-term continuation of adequate incentives for the sale of electric cars" and the development of a charging network.


 

Related Tags

WORLDNEWS
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.