Truckers’ Protests Halt Shifts at 3 Stellantis Plants in Italy
Key Facts
Shifts at Stellantis facilities in Atessa, Melfi and Pomigliano d’Arco, Italy, stopped this week after truckers’ protests disrupted component deliveries, Reuters reported. The disruptions affected the Pomigliano d’Arco plant near Naples, the commercial vehicle plant in Atessa in the Abruzzo region, and the car plant in Melfi in Basilicata. Quattroruote reported that production in Atessa stopped because materials were not supplied as a result of the protests. The protests were triggered by rising fuel costs and road closures, which disrupted transport and supplies. A company spokesperson said efforts were under way to resume the affected operations, without specifying when they would return.
In Atessa, the second and third shifts stopped on October 21, 2026, and the first and second shifts were then scheduled to stop on October 22. The stoppage on the second day excluded the separate assembly and finishing departments, according to Quattroruote. The disruption thus extended across consecutive shifts over two days, while work continued in the two excluded departments. The report said the initial stoppages would be made up through later production, meaning the lost output would be shifted to another time. Later stoppages that day would be covered through Italy’s wage support system. The report did not estimate the amount of affected output or when it would be made up.
The disruption at the car plants came amid broader protests that affected fuel and food supplies in southern Italy. Reuters said the protests, which began the previous week, eased on Thursday as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government approved new aid. The supply disruption highlights how a halt in truck traffic can extend from essential goods to production lines that depend on materials arriving on time. In the automotive sector, Quattroruote reported that the failure of materials to arrive caused the stoppage in Atessa. These developments are unrelated to stoppages at Renault’s French plants in Sochaux, announced for separate reasons linked to the availability of long-range batteries.
The government approved additional tax credits worth 106 million euros for truckers, along with 60 million euros for farmers and 10 million euros for the fishing sector, Reuters reported. The truckers’ tax credits add to 434 million euros previously offered, while the other aid was allocated to the agricultural and fishing sectors. The decision came as protests had affected the flow of fuel and food, before easing on Thursday. The package combines support for truckers with a response to the disruption’s effects on sectors that also depend on transport and supplies. Reuters’ report did not specify when the funds would be disbursed.
The transport disruption in the Naples area also affected the buffalo mozzarella industry, with the Associated Press reporting that weeklong protests hampered milk deliveries to dairies and cheese shipments to customers. An official estimated the sector’s losses at about 3 million euros over 24 hours through October 22, 2026. Production rules require milk to be turned into cheese within 60 hours of milking, making transport delays consequential for production and delivery schedules. Protected buffalo mozzarella output was just under 58,000 metric tons in 2025, with about 37% exported. France was its largest foreign market, the agency reported, illustrating how the supply chain extends from local producers to markets outside Italy.
Stellantis shares closed at $4.27 on October 22, 2026, according to EL7 data. The close came on a day when reports said shifts had stopped in Atessa, Melfi and Pomigliano d’Arco amid transport disruption in southern Italy. The data provided do not include a comparison with the previous session’s price or a measure of the plants’ impact on the stock. A company spokesperson said work was under way to resume the affected operations, while protests eased on Thursday after the government approved aid. The source did not specify when production would resume at the facilities or provide further details on how much output would later be recovered.