Italian car brands DR and Evo have been fined €6 million (£5.1m) for falsely marketing Chinese-manufactured cars as Italian-made.
The AGCM, Italy’s competition and market authority, announced that DR Automobiles, the parent company of these brands, had misled customers by claiming their cars were produced in Italy. In reality, these vehicles are manufactured in China and merely finished at DR’s Macchia d’Isernia plant.
The AGCM highlighted that customers were deceived about the cars’ origins and that DR’s service division has not ensured an adequate supply of spare parts since at least 2022. DR Automobiles has 60 days to address these issues.
Massimo Di Risio, founder of DR, stated: “We fully dispute the decision and are about to challenge it.”
The investigation into these practices began in October 2023 and is part of a broader effort by the Italian government to regulate the marketing of foreign-made cars. Recently, Alfa Romeo was compelled to rename its latest model from Milano to Junior after it was determined that the Polish-built crossover violated a law requiring geographical names to be used only for products made in Italy.
On this issue, Alfa Romeo’s CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato, told Autocar: “When they told me it was forbidden by law – it’s not – I said: ‘Calm down: I’m not here to play politics; I’m just here to make an Alfa Romeo that’s sustainable for the future.’”
In another instance, a shipment of Fiat Topolino electric quadricycles was seized at the port of Livorno for displaying the Italian flag despite being manufactured in Morocco.
