The Punto will stop being manufactured for three months in Italy

In what seem to be the most difficult times that Sergio Marchionne has had to face at the helm of Fiat-Chrysler, the Italian company has decided to suspend production of the Fiat Punto at the Melfi plant, in Potenza, southern Italy, for three months.

Apparently the stock of cars coming out of that factory is quite large, not only to supply the market for three months, but also because, even though the Punto is the second best-selling car in the boot-shaped country, there are too many units already built that have not yet been sold.

For the Melfi plant, the solution to avoid closure is to build “something” for export -it could be some Chrysler to export to the USA- or find a partner willing to manufacture in Italy, alongside Fiat. Marchionne is not short of partners to build cars together if we look to Japan; the problem is that in Japan there are also unions that will raise a fuss if the production of certain brands is moved to another country.

For now, Mazda would be one of the candidates to save the Fiat plants in Italy. The Melfi plant seems destined to take on the honours of the Fiat joint venture with Mazda, building the MX-5/Alfa-Romeo, a joint project we told you about not long ago.

Via | Caradisiac