The first foreign car manufacturer to produce in Italy will be Chinese. Dongfeng Motors, a company based in Wuhan, founded in 1969 and entirely controlled by the State, is at an advanced stage of negotiations with the Meloni government to set up a factory in the Peninsula, perhaps in the south, to act as a hub for the group's ambitions in Europe. The turning point is epochal and, if it materializes, will overturn an approach that has been consolidated for over a century. Palazzo Chigi, in fact, over the years has always followed the somewhat anomalous line of not chasing investment from other countries, preferring to protect the less and less national manufacturer: Fiat, which then became FCA, in turn merged into the global Stellantis. An important player that cannot, however, by itself meet the legitimate needs of an industrially advanced country with a great tradition in the sector and, what is more, in a complex period such as the energy transition. Italian production is not taking off. On the contrary, in the first half of 2024, it came to an abrupt halt. The transatlantic giant's plans are ambitious but, in the Peninsula, strongly focused on electric mobility, which still does not take off, especially in Italy. Giorgia Meloni, during her recent mission to China, signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' for bilateral industrial cooperation, including the electric vehicle sector.