Stellantis-backed ACC shelves battery plant plans in Italy, Germany: union

AFP | Rome

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The European vehicle battery venture Automotive Cells (ACC) has told unions it is shelving plans to build gigafactories in both Italy and Germany, the Italian metalworkers’ union UILM said yesterday.

In a statement, ACC, which is backed by Jeep-maker Stellantis, said it was considering shutting down the projects, which have been on hold since 2024 amid slower-than-expected growth for electric vehicles.

“ACC management confirmed to us this morning what we’ve long feared: that ACC’s plan to build a gigafactory in Termoli has been definitively shelved, as has the case in Germany,” the union said in a statement.

The new ACC sites were among dozens of battery projects emerging in Europe as it seeks to reduce reliance on Chinese producers that dominate the market, but were halted as the company weighed shifting to a less-expensive battery technology.

“It is clear that the prerequisites for restarting ACC’s projects in Germany and Italy... are not yet in place,” ACC said in a statement yesterday. The company was in talks with unions over “the modalities for a potential shutdown of the Gigafactory projects in Kaiserslautern and Termoli”, it said.