Car production to end after 75 years

A historic factory in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, which has operated since 1948 and produced the iconic Fiat 126p “Maluch”, will close with the loss of over 450 jobs according to ‘Notes from Poland’.

It was announced at the beginning of 2024 that the FCA Powertrain plant in Bielsko-Biała was being put into liquidation. A trade union says EU restrictions on vehicle emissions are the reason for the decision.

During the communist era, the then state-owned plant produced cars under licence from Fiat, including the famous “Maluch” (meaning “little one”). In 1992 the facility was privatised and taken over by Fiat.

Commenting on the liquidation, Wanda Stróżyk, chairwoman of the branch of the Solidarity trade union representing Polish Fiat workers, told local newspaper Dziennik Zachodni that, “we all expected this”. She noted that 300 employees at the plant had already been dismissed last year.

Another union operating at the factory, the Metalworkers Trade Union (ZZPM), said in a statement that the plant’s manager had told them, “that the reason for the liquidation is the introduction of regulations by the European Commission on internal combustion engine emissions”. The union said the resultant redundancies would cover the entire 468-strong staff and would be implemented from February to December 2024.

Puls Biznesu reported that FCA Powertrain’s management, together with the trade unions, will work out solutions to provide the employees with the, “best possible conditions needed to go through the process of professional change”.