Fiat manufacturer Stellantis should listen to its conscience, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said after the Dutch conglomerate signed layoff deals that could lead to over 3,000 job losses in Italy.
"There are issues of conscience: pay great attention to Italy," Tajani said on Thursday.
"Italy is an attractive country to invest in...I hope Stellantis does not leave Italy. We have an auto tradition that cannot be abandoned."
Netherlands-based Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), last week signed deals with unions for over 2,500 voluntary layoffs at plants in Italy, including Melfi, Pomigliano d'Arco and Termoli in southern Italy and Turin in the northwest for line workers and other roles.
A hundred other layoffs are involved at the Pratola Serra engine-making facility in Pratola Serra, near Avellino in Italy's south.
Stellantis has proposed 850 voluntary redundancies an another large assembly plant in the central Lazio region and another deal is expected to cover the Atessa van making facility in the central Abruzzo region.
The group stresses the redundancies are voluntary and mainly aimed at workers nearing retirement and are being driven by the industry's cleaner energy and technology transition process.
Stellantis has underlined Italy's central role in its operations globally and is in talks with the government to boost annual production to a million vehicles.
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