The Automotive of the Mezzogiorno to the Test of Transition

This paper examines the long-standing transformations of the Italian Automotive industry and frames the new structural crisis that is affecting the European supply chain. The intra-European reconfiguration of the Automotive industry toward Eastern countries, which began in the 1990s and hinged on the German supply chain, has been overlaid in recent years by a process of global restructuring of the industry, marked by a shift in demand toward Asian markets, the transition to electric mobility-dominated by Chinese production and technological developments related to autonomous driving and software. Against this backdrop, the article analyzes the main dimensions of European vulnerability – the fragility of supply-side supply chains, dependence on increasingly closed or crowded outlet markets and the technology gap accumulated by European manufacturers – and the potential repercussions on production facilities and components in the Mezzogiorno. The strategic relevance of Automotive requires a return to a serious industrial policy, which cannot be exhausted in the recently presented European Plan, characterized by insufficient resources and shortcomings at the level of planning and objectives. If in the short term, it is essential to ensure the continuity of production of plants in the Mezzogiorno, protecting the employment fabric of the supply chain, in the future, the revitalization goes through the creation of a European and Southern electricity supply chain, which depends on reducing the technology gap with Chinese manufacturers and lowering energy costs. All efforts needed to ensure a technology transfer process aimed at closing this gap should be pursued – including the introduction at the European level of conditionality criteria on public subsidies guaranteed to foreign manufacturers – and the government should facilitate the creation of Joint Ventures and the direct settlement in the South of China of Chinese players aimed at opening new production plants – not mere assembly – of electric vehicles, also in light of the favorable localization conditions linked to the Single SEZ and the ongoing reform towards Zonal Energy Prices.