Italian Government's Crackdown on Automobile Industry
TapTechNews May 21st. Recently, the Italian government has taken action in the automotive industry, strictly investigating any logos that may mislead consumers and imply that the product is made in Italy, including nameplates and body decals.
The latest model targeted is Fiat's retro-flavored electric car Topolino (meaning little mouse in Italian). As Italy's largest car manufacturer, Fiat has attached a sticker on the car body that shows its Italian origin. The problem is that the sticker looks very much like the Italian flag, but the actual production place of Topolino is not Italy, but Morocco.
When the cargo ship carrying Topolino arrived in Tuscany, Italy, customs officials found that there was a sticker with the same color as the Italian flag on the car door, and then seized 134 Topolinos, including 15 convertible Dolcevita versions.
According to an Italian law in 2003, if the product is not made in Italy, the country prohibits enterprises from selling any goods that imply that the product is made in Italy, and this law covers any form of brand or marketing means. Italian officials believe that the stickers on the car body will mislead consumers, so they confiscated these vehicles.
The spokesperson of Stellantis Group to which Fiat belongs later clarified to the local Italian media: The only purpose of this sticker is to indicate the manufacturer of the product. At the same time, it said, In order to solve the problem, we decided to wait for the approval of the relevant departments, and then remove these small stickers on the car.
TapTechNews noticed that Fiat is not the only company that has been hit due to Italian trade regulations. Previously, Alfa Romeo, also belonging to Stellantis Group, planned to launch an SUV named Milano, but due to the fact that the production place of the car is Poland and has the same name as the city of Milan in Italy, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Italian government. After negotiation, Alfa Romeo finally compromised and changed the car name to Junior, which at least met the requirements of the Italian government although it lost a bit of local characteristics.