(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s finance minister discounted the option of an investment in Stellantis NV in a possible move to safeguard local jobs in the electrification shift.

“The State should intervene only when the market fails or to protect strategic national interest,” Giancarlo Giorgetti said Monday during Bloomberg’s Italy Capital Markets Forum. Giorgetti added that “I don’t know if France has more say on Stellantis than the Italian government.”

Italy’s auto lobby has called for Italy to invest directly in Stellantis amid worries of job losses at Europe’s second biggest carmaker after Volkswagen AG as the sector transitions to electric cars. 

France’s role in Stellantis is often taken as example of the kind of role Italy also should play to protect Italian interests. French public investment bank Bpifrance is the third-biggest investor in Stellantis with a 6.1% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Last week, Stellantis chairman John Elkann also dismissed that the carmaker needs help from the Italian state as Stellantis “is doing very well and States intervene when companies aren’t doing well,” he added.

READ MORE: Italy New Car Sales Pass France, Imply 11% Europe Gain in May

--With assistance from Albertina Torsoli.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.