Sources Say Melfi Plant To Get New Lineup Of SUVs To Produce In 2024:

As an integral part of the Jeep® and FIAT brands, the Melfi Assembly Plant in Melfi, Italy, is the production home of the popular Jeep® Renegade and Fiat 500X (for the European and North American markets) as well as the Jeep Compass (for the European market). But now, thanks to various Italian unions associated with Stellantis, we are starting to learn new details about the future of the products to be produced at Melfi in 2024.

The sources state that 4 new vehicles will replace the current trio of models at Melfi. Stellantis will start updating the Melfi facility to the former Peugeot S.A. (PSA) standards before they start producing the new models. Among the changes to the plant, will be that only one of the two current assembly lines will remain operational. The new layout should produce at least 400,000 vehicles per year, while a second assembly line will be used for battery assembly for those new electrified models.

Currently, the Melfi trio of vehicles is all built upon the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Small Wide platform. This platform will be replaced by the recently announced STLA Medium platform. This new platform is a multi-energy platform, which means that in addition to internal combustion engine (ICE) models, these platforms can produce plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery-electric (BEV) vehicles.

According to our sources, of the three models currently built at Melfi, only the next-generation Jeep Compass will remain. The Compass will be joined by the next-generation Opel Grandland, the next-generation DS 7 Crossback, and an unnamed Lancia compact (C-segment) SUV. 

The production switch for the next generation of vehicles should help with the Italian factory’s utilization. 

As for the Renegade, it looks like other assembly facilities will adopt its production as it will also be updated to a new STLA platform during its next update. The Renegade is currently manufactured at two other plants aside from the Melfi facility, one in Brazil and another one in China.

We should learn a little more details next month, once Stellantis released details on its electrification plan for the future.