Stellantis plant in Tychy, Poland, has produced 500,000 SUVs in three years, but only half of the factory is operational since June 2024. The milestone comes with a bittersweet note: the plant once produced 600,000 cars annually.
The jubilee vehicle is an Alfa Romeo Junior Sport Speciale in Rosso Brera with a black roof and a 1.2 T3 145 HP mild hybrid Q4 drive. Alongside the Alfa, the Tychy factory also manufactures the Jeep Avenger and the Fiat 600 on the same platform. All three models are available with petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains.
The plant’s history dates back to 1975, when it started producing the Fiat 126p, later moving on to the Cinquecento, Seicento, and finally the Panda, Fiat 500, Lancia Ypsilon and Ford Ka. At its peak in 2009, Tychy built more than 600,000 small cars, making it Fiat’s most productive European facility.
How a crisis changed the course
The global financial crisis of 2008–2009 hit the automotive industry hard. Italian unions were unhappy that the best-selling Fiat models were built outside Italy. In 2009, the Tychy plant produced almost as many cars as all five Fiat factories in Italy combined. To secure government support, then-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne decided to move the next-generation Panda production to Italy. He warned the move would be economically disastrous, and indeed it was. Yet the company received Italian state aid, while Tychy lost a large portion of its production volume and momentum.
After Stellantis was formed, the Tychy plant underwent a thorough reconfiguration. One assembly line was adapted for B-segment SUVs. The other line kept making A-segment cars for a while, until those models were phased out. For a brief moment there was hope that the electric Leapmotor T03 would be built in Tychy – its size was nearly identical to the old Fiats – but that plan has not materialised so far.
Current production and the road ahead
Since June 2024 only half of the factory is working, with an estimated capacity of 300,000 to 400,000 vehicles on a three-shift system. In spring 2026, the plant even cancelled the third shift due to market fluctuations. Despite these difficulties, the half-million mark is a cause for celebration.
– I highly appreciate the competences and commitment put into the production of each of the half-million jubilee vehicles. The Tychy plant is an important part of the Stellantis team behind the market success of these cars – said Christophe Montavone, Stellantis director of production in Europe.
The Alfa Romeo Junior is not only the jubilee car but also the first Alfa Romeo built outside Italy. Its engine – a three-cylinder T3 unit – is also produced in Tychy, in the Stellantis powertrain plant. In 2025, the Tychy car factory celebrated its 50th anniversary, surpassing 11 million vehicles produced. The engine plant marked five million units since 1999. Stellantis ranked second in the B-SUV segment in the EU30 region in 2025 and held a 16% market share with over 2.4 million registrations.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Materiały prasowe / Stellantis
