BYD is in talks with Stellantis and other European manufacturers to take over or use underutilized production facilities on the continent. The confirmation came directly from Stella Li, executive vice president of the Chinese group, in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Financial Times’ Future of the Car Summit. “We are talking not only with Stellantis, we are also talking with other companies. We are looking for any available plant in Europe: we are interested in unused production capacity,” Li explained, adding that Italy is on the “short list” of countries of interest and that BYD would prefer to manage the factories directly, without joint ventures, because it would be “easier”.
The Italian factories
Among the Italian plants targeted, according to sources cited by the agency, are Cassino and Mirafiori, the two Stellantis sites most in difficulty in Italy. According to the Fim-Cisl first quarter 2026 report, Cassino produced just 2,916 units (-37.4%), with activity reduced to 5-6 days per month. Furthermore, the new Alfa Romeo models on the Large Bev platform do not yet have a launch date. In Mirafiori, however, the 500 hybrid together with the electric is not enough and the area freed by Maserati production remains without destination.
Li’s words come after those of Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who at the Financial Times summit had indicated the group’s availability for new industrial partnerships “also with others” in addition to the Chinese Leapmotor, specifying that they could concern technology, supply chain and use of production capacity.
Watch out for brands
BYD also seems interested in possible historic European brands in difficulty. Maserati, which closed 2025 with a loss of almost 840 million, is “very interesting,” Li said, but specified that the group “has not taken any action.” Alfa Romeo could also represent a further element of interest. However, a spokesperson for Stellantis specified that the group “holds discussions with a number of industry operators on various topics” as part of normal activity, without commenting on “speculation”. For both brands, Stellantis a year ago, after the announcement of the US tariffs, mandated McKinsey to evaluate the economic impact and study countermeasures, including industrial alliances or a corporate spin-off.
Stellantis’ plan
Filosa at the Financial Times event also denied the possibility of a drastic sale of brands: “A brand remains because there is a customer who wants it. Too drastic decisions on the exit from one or more brands would risk losing that customer base in favor of competitors”. And he then clarified: “It’s not choosing one, two, three or four brands. The real point is to combine efficient capital allocation with specific strategies for each brand.” Details will be illustrated at Investor Day on May 21st.
