Silk-FAW has recently announced that it will no longer be moving forward with its plans to build a production facility and research center for high-performance supercars in Italy. After reaching an agreement with local authorities in the Emilia-Romagna region in 2021, the company sent a letter to the Emilia-Romagna authorities informing them of its intention to withdraw from the agreement.
Though the company has not responded to requests for comment, the Emilia-Romagna region acknowledged Silk-FAW’s decision in the document. It is unclear if the withdrawal from the Italian plans will have any impact on the company’s plans to also build vehicles in China under the Hongqi brand, with the first planned production being the Hongqi H9.
This news comes after Italian prosecutors were allegedly investigating Silk-FAW and that just last week, tax police visited the offices of an Italian procurement agency, Invitalia, which had documents on an application by Silk-FAW seeking €38 million ($40 million) in public funding to build its Italian factory.
The head of economic development in the Emilia-Romagna regional government, Vincenzo Colla, expressed his worries in July of last year, noting that Silk-FAW’s “financial flows” had not been up to the needs of establishing such a site. Silk-FAW quickly responded to these concerns, revealing that it was moving ahead with its plans.
It was intended to finalize the purchase of an area of land for the factory on August 5, 2022, but Reuters notes that the land purchase was never made. It appears that Silk-FAW may now exclusively manufacture its planned vehicles in China.