Poland

FCA Group announces new investments in a strategic project implemented at the factory in Tychy, Poland.

The investment will involve the expansion and modernization of FCA Poland’s plant and is scheduled for several years with early preparations already started in late 2020. Its goal is to start mass production of the first of three new passenger car models for the group's brands in the second half of 2022.

New cars for the Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands will be powered by both hybrid and fully electric systems, thanks to which they will set standards in their segments, enabling the further development of the Group's brands and effective competition in the most demanding markets in the world.

The announcement of FCA's investment in the Tychy factory was sealed with a symbolic handover of the decision to grant public aid to the FCA Group by the Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSEZ). Documents from the President of the KSEZ Janusz Michałek were received by Mr. Sławomir Bekier, board member and financial director of FCA Poland.

The granted support concerns the creation of favorable conditions for the implementation of the planned investment by providing FCA with the possibility of taking advantage of tax reliefs in the field of corporate income tax (CIT).

Statements by representatives of the FCA Group and the KSEZ:

Pietro Gorlier, COO of FCA EMEA Region:
“Today Tychy is opening a new chapter, building on an extraordinary century-long history in Poland since the first Fiat branch was opened in 1920. Our Polish plants represent centers of excellence for FCA globally of which I am particularly proud and the merit goes to the daily commitment and contribution of the workers. The investments announced today represent fulfillment of the promise to relaunch activities in Poland made by FCA when it presented its business plan two years ago”.

Henryka Bochniarz - Member of the Supervisory Board, FCA Poland
“Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is not only one of the largest producers of passenger cars in Poland, but also one of the country's most important foreign investors in the industrial sector. The group, which includes thirteen Polish companies, employs 6.4 thousand people. I would also like to emphasize that last year as much as 74% of the production of Polish FCA companies, worth over PLN 12.4 billion, found their customers abroad. FCA is not only efficient and modern enterprises, but also a reliable organization for which the human factor is a key element of its success. Thanks to the commitment and professionalism of the team from Tychy, today we can celebrate one of the largest automotive investments in Poland and, with an extremely strong accent, seal the 100th anniversary of the FIAT Group's presence in Poland”.

Alfredo Leggero - President of the Management Board, FCA Poland
“Poland has always been of strategic importance to FCA. FCA Poland produces and will produce cars with a high proportion of locally manufactured components, which in the full sense of the word can be referred to as "Made in Poland". The team of FCA Poland over the years has proven its determination and professionalism in striving to achieve the highest world standards in the field of car production. Each employee of our factory in Tychy deserves this investment and everyone can be proud that he contributed to the fact that today we are announcing a decision that will ensure further development of the Tychy factory for years to come”.

Tomasz Gębka, Director of the Tychy Plant, Member of the Board, FCA Poland
“Thank you for the support of our management - both in Turin and Detroit. Someone familiar with the Tychy plant and the local team could say that the decision to locate such a strategically important project right here, for this reliable crew, should be automatic. On the other hand, there are many factories in the FCA Group with which I have cooperated in the past, both in Europe, the Americas and Asia, where we have implemented the World Class Manufacturing system and which, like the plant in Tychy, guarantee the highest quality, efficiency, while focusing on ecology. All the more thank you for this trust given to us”.

Janusz Michałek President of the Management Board, KSEZ
“Our flagship investor granted with another positive decision of the KSEZ. This time, FCA Poland will be producing in Poland, and here, in Tychy, completely new car models that have not been produced by the Group so far. Thanks to the implementation of the FCA Group's investment, planned for several years, modern FCA cars with electric and hybrid drive will be built in Silesia in the KSEZ. As part of the decision to support the KSEZ, our investor declared over PLN 755 million of outlays for the factory in Tychy”.

The announced decision on the FCA Group's investment also has an important symbolic dimension - it seals the 100th anniversary of the presence of the Group and the FIAT brand in Poland this year. It was 100 years ago that the joint-stock company Polski Fiat was established in Warsaw, and 11 years later, the production of the first Fiats under an Italian license began in Warsaw. The post-war history of the brand revived in 1965 in Warsaw's FSO with the production of a new car under license, and eight years later at FSM in Bielsko-Biała, where the first Fiat 126p rolled off the assembly line. In 1975, production started at the Tychy plant. In 1992, Fiat Auto acquired FSM, establishing Fiat Auto Poland, currently Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – Poland.

FCA Poland - Tychy Plant:
The FCA Poland plant (Tychy) is one of the largest FCA production plants. It covers an area of 2.4 million m², of which 0.5 million m² is allocated to production halls and service buildings. Approximately 2.5 thousand people currently work in the plant and within plant there are 42 companies providing services to the factory. A new car comes off its assembly lines approximately every minute. In 2019, the FCA plant in Tychy produced a total of 263,176 Fiat, Abarth and Lancia cars, including: 179,689 Fiat 500, 21,015 Abarth 595 and 62,472 Lancia Ypsilon. The FCA factory in Tychy operates in accordance with World Class Manufacturing, an integrated enterprise management methodology according to the highest world standards. FCA Tychy plant was one of the first in the Group to reach the "Gold" level of WCM.
FCA Poland is one of the largest employers in the region - it employed almost 2,500 people at the end of last year. The company is constantly looking for innovative solutions and improvements in work organization. One of the elements influencing the development is Plant Academy - a project that aims to develop technical and leadership skills of employees.
Export is an extremely important and profitable branch for the economy, and the automotive industry is of key importance in Polish exports. 99% of the cars of the Fiat, Abarth and Lancia brands produced in 2019 (i.e. 260,842 units) were exported to 58 markets around the world.