Tavares Confirms Five Vehicles Will Be Produced At Melfi

In his discussions with Italian union leaders on Monday, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares released new information regarding the future production at the Melfi Assembly Plant. Although Tavares was there to discuss the situation at the Mirafiori plant, the leader of the fourth largest global automaker also addressed the future plans for its other significant assembly plant.

The Melfi Assembly Plant currently produces the Fiat 500X, Jeep® Compass (for the European market), and Jeep Renegade (European market). With all three vehicles scheduled to end production over the next year, Tavares confirmed some details about the automaker’s plans to continue production at the plant. This includes the production of five new vehicles at Melfi.

The first vehicle set to arrive will be a new crossover for the DS Automobiles brand. This will be followed by a Jeep® vehicle, likely the next-generation Compass. A third vehicle will be a compact sedan for the DS Automobiles brand. In 2026, production will begin on an all-new Lancia Gamma (Lancia’s flagship sedan). Shortly after, a hybrid model of the Compass should also arrive.

Tavares did mention that a Compass Hybrid model would also be built at the Mirafiori plant, raising questions about Stellantis’ electrification agenda as more automakers shift from all-electric models to favor more hybrid models. Jeep® has shown it can be a leader in hybrid vehicles, not only with their plug-in hybrid (PHEV) 4xe but also with its e-HYBRID mild-hybrid lineup.

Oddly enough, one vehicle remained out of the discussion: the rumored new Opel Manta. According to various automotive sources, Opel has shelved the Manta in favor of launching more “popular” vehicles. Does that mean more crossovers to drive sales? We don’t know.

All of the vehicles produced at the Melfi facility, will be sitting on the STLA Medium architecture.

Tavares says the automaker aims to produce one million vehicles in Italy by 2030, a move that could please Italian government officials given the current situation between Stellantis and the Italian government.