Italy’s right-wing government is proposing to activate a new law to take control of dormant brands that have laid unused for five years or more, by decree.
According to news reports in Il Sole 24 Ore, Giorgia Meloni’s government have their sights set on Innocenti and Autobianchi for starters.
Currently both brands belong to Fiat/Chrysler’s holding company Stellantis; which is headquartered in Holland. The Italian government – controlled by the populist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party – is clearly annoyed that the once-great Italian vehicle industry has slowly trickled off abroad where labour rates are much cheaper.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em
Anyone who has an interest in modern Piaggio scooters will know that some Piaggio and Vespa models are either made in Asia (Piaggio have a factory in Vietnam) or use mainly Asian core components.
Piaggio are not alone – global brands in many sectors manufacture where production is cheapest and also close to their biggest markets to cut transport costs. These companies would argue that using Asian factories is the only way to compete on price on a global scale. Essentially, it’s the “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” defence used by many corporate multinationals.
There’s a catch
The Italian government’s proposal is aimed to reverse some of this flow by selling the brands to Chinese companies, only on condition that they open factories for production in Italy. According to the Italian press, the trade ministry has been in discussion with huge companies like BYD (sponsors of the European Cup football) and Great Wall Motor. Names also in the ring are Chery Motor, Dongfeng and Jac; with the government’s intention to get electric car factories up and running in Italy and to tie the Chinese to a certain proportion of local parts sourcing.
Meloni’s government are reportedly most unimpressed that Stellantis have chosen to make the new electric Fiat Panda Grande in Serbia. Not only is this outside Italy but also outside the EU.
Radical solution
Quite how a decree allowing the government to take over the Innocenti and Autobianchi brands would work is not entirely clear. A law was passed in December to lay the groundwork for this, according to Reuters.
I’d be very surprised if Stellantis did not fight it in the courts, unless they were given some form of payment or sweetener. Brands – even old disused ones – have an inherent value when it comes to resurrection. We’ve learned this with Lambretta, for instance, but also with MG and Benelli; both of which are now in the hands of the Chinese.
Is it really possible that the state could try to take over the brands from an unwilling seller like a ‘compulsory purchase order’ of a house that’s in the way of a new railway line? I’d be amazed if that worked.
Innocenti S.A.
The newspapers are even suggesting that the Italian state are involved in registering their own, slightly modified, versions of the Autobianchi and Innocenti logos with the Italian Patent and Trademark office, but we’ve not been able to independently verify this.
In a further ironic complication, Walter Scheffrahn, the man behind modern Lambretta scooters, owns and operates his business from Switzerland under the company name Innocenti S.A. He also runs the Innocenti.com website. Quite how this Italian government’s plan for Innocenti vehicles will go down between all the interested parties remains to be seen.
Elaborate ruse?
I’m not sure how I feel about a government having the power to take ownership of things that haven’t been used for five years. I’ve had scooter projects that have sat untouched for longer, but that doesn’t mean someone else can now take ownership because I’ve not got around to it. Maybe this is all just a legal stick to beat Stellantis with, in the hope to persuade them to use the brands rather than lose them?
It’s quite clear that the Italian government’s chief aim here is not to take a brand for themselves, but simply to pass it on to a company that could give some employment to Italian workers. I completely understand the objective, I’m just not sure playing fast and loose with historic intellectual property, and car factories tied to Beijing, is the right way to achieve it. Whether or not the brands haven’t been used for half a decade or more seems immaterial to me…
Sticky
