TURIN. Iveco Bus will return to producing buses in Italy. The sites concerned are those of Turin and Foggia, now specialized in the production of industrial internal combustion engines. This was announced by the same company of the Exor group, controlled by the Agnelli family, which presented a request for access to the Mise Development Contracts within the scope of the Pnrr opportunities. The vehicles will be based on latest generation technologies, including those relating to battery and hydrogen electric propulsion. According to the rumors gathered, when fully operational Iveco will produce over a thousand buses a year. The company also plans to train current employees and make new hires.
“The project – they explain to Iveco – will contribute to the process of energy and ecological transition of public transport in Italy and will have positive impacts on the development of the supply chain”. In particular, the engineering and manufacturing activities of electric batteries will be enhanced at the Piedmontese plants, while in Foggia new lines for the final assembly of high-tech, zero-emission buses (Bev – Battery Electric Vehicles and Fcev – Fuel) will be installed. Cell Electric Vehicles) and low emissions (methane / biomethane and latest generation diesel / biodiesel).
The initial processing of the new buses will be started in the other plants of the group already dedicated to the production of Iveco Bus. It will continue in Foggia, thanks to alternative propulsions produced in Turin and hydrogen fuel cells. Also in Foggia it will be completed, with the addition of components supplied largely by the national automotive supply chain.
The manufacturing and R&D activities on batteries, as well as the engine supplies of low-emission vehicles, will be entrusted to Fpt Industrial, the Iveco brand dedicated to powertrain technologies.
The project, even if it is subject to the acceptance of the request for access to the Development Contract, is at an advanced stage and therefore could be operational as early as 2022, with the ambition to produce the first buses in the spring of 2023. “We are convinced of the goodness of our proposal and trusting in its acceptance – comments Domenico Nucera, president of the Iveco Group Bus Business Unit – we believe that it will allow us to contribute to the economic development of the country and to play a leading role in the necessary and urgent process of renewal of the park Italian circulation for local public transport “.
The first reactions to the news were positive. «Welcome back Iveco! – says the Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti – After much talk about reshoring, the facts arrive. This is great news for the relaunch of the Italian industry ». Same tenor from the trade unions. “It is a very important industrial initiative, as it sanctions Iveco’s renewed commitment in Italy in the bus segment, after the painful decision was taken a few years ago to transfer production elsewhere – comment Fim, Fiom, Uilm, Fismic and Uglm – In addition, two powertrain plants, Turin and Foggia, are benefited, which by their nature will need new productions over time to adapt to the energy transition ».