Political Audit: Maserati S.p.A.

Audit Phase: Political (Political, Communications & Structural) Research Date: 30 June 2026

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

No official statement by Maserati S.p.A. on the Israel-Palestine conflict has been identified at any point in the documented record, including in the period following October 7, 2023, and following the ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 2024 ¹. No standalone Stellantis N.V. statement addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict or the Gaza military campaign has been identified in publicly available sources ¹. No posts addressing the conflict were identified on Maserati’s Instagram, X/Twitter, or LinkedIn brand accounts ¹.

Comparative treatment of geopolitical conflicts. On 19 April 2022, Stellantis publicly suspended manufacturing operations at its Kaluga, Russia, facility following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, issuing a formal statement: “Given the rapid daily increase in cross sanctions and logistical difficulties, Stellantis has suspended its manufacturing operations in Kaluga to ensure full compliance with all cross sanctions and to protect its employees” ². The Leave Russia NGO tracker independently lists Stellantis among companies that paused operations in Russia in the wake of the invasion ³. In April 2022, the Maserati MSG Racing Formula E team’s then-partner, ROKiT Venturi Racing, displayed Ukrainian flag-coloured dove livery on its race car at the Rome E-Prix, and the team’s principal sponsor, the Stoli® Group, made a financial donation to World Central Kitchen in support of Ukrainian refugees; this initiative was attributed to ROKiT Venturi Racing and its principal sponsor, not to Maserati S.p.A. directly, which served in the role of title partner ⁴. No analogous public gesture, statement, or symbolic action concerning Palestinian civilian harm during the same conflict period has been identified for Maserati or Stellantis ¹.

DEI positioning and comparative silence. Stellantis maintains a formalised Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programme with published policy documentation and was ranked No. 16 on Fair360’s Top 50 Companies list in 2024, reflecting an active public posture on race equity ¹. No equivalent public posture on Palestinian civilian harm, the Israeli occupation, or the ICJ’s findings has been identified for Stellantis or Maserati ¹.

Regional accounting reclassification. The Stellantis 2024 Annual Report reclassified Israel and Palestine from the Middle East & Africa region into the “Enlarged Europe” segment, effective 1 January 2025, with prior periods not restated; the change is presented as an operational and accounting decision carrying no geopolitical characterisation ¹. Stellantis publicly characterises its Israel Innovation Authority MOU as a standard commercial-innovation cooperation, framing Israel as part of a global technology-scouting strategy rather than a geopolitically distinct partner ⁵⁶.

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

Authorised distribution network in Israel. Maserati’s authorised national importer in Israel is Samelet (Mediterranean Car Agency Ltd.), a privately held Israeli conglomerate headquartered at 6a Hamagshimim Street, Petah Tikva, a location within pre-1967 Israel ⁷⁸. Samelet acquired a partial ownership stake in the Ferrari and Maserati importer Auto Italia in 2014 and assumed full ownership of Auto Italia in late 2019, fully integrating both brands into its operations ⁷⁸. The Samelet network operates a nationwide branch system including showrooms in Tel Aviv (opened 1965) and Jerusalem (opened 1971), employs approximately 350 people nationally, and represents approximately 20% of car brands available in the Israeli market ⁸. In addition to Maserati and Ferrari, Samelet distributes Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Jeep, Chrysler, Ram, Dodge, Subaru, Iveco, Hongqi, and WEY in Israel ⁷⁸.

Absence of footprint in occupied territory. No Maserati or Samelet dealership, service centre, or authorised outlet located in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Gaza has been identified via any public source reviewed ¹⁷⁸⁹. Maserati S.p.A. holds no direct Israeli retail, service, or manufacturing facilities; local employment obligations, tax liabilities, and operational decisions are borne by Samelet under an independent-importer model ¹. All identified Maserati production facilities are located in Italy - Modena, Cassino, and Mirafiori/Turin ¹.

UN OHCHR database of business enterprises. The 2020 iteration of the OHCHR database (A/HRC/43/71) does not list Maserati S.p.A., Stellantis N.V., FCA Italy, or Samelet ¹. The OHCHR issued an updated database in September 2025, adding 68 companies for a revised total of 158 entities from eleven countries (Israel, Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) ¹⁰¹¹. Neither the OHCHR press release nor Al Jazeera’s coverage of the update names Maserati, Stellantis, FCA, or Samelet among the listed entities; construction, real estate, mining, and tourism sectors predominate the list ¹⁰¹¹. The full text of the updated 2025 database (A/HRC/60/19) was not accessible via open web fetch during research, and automotive sub-sector completeness of the 2025 database cannot therefore be fully confirmed from open sources alone ¹⁰.

OECD National Contact Point complaints. Two complaints against Stellantis have been registered with OECD NCP bodies: FOCSIV and others vs. Stellantis Italy, and Italian CSOs vs. Stellantis NV and Stellantis Italy ¹²¹³. Both complaints concern cobalt and mineral supply chain transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not Israel-Palestine ¹²¹³. No OECD NCP complaint against Maserati or Stellantis relating to Israel, Palestine, or the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been identified ¹²¹³.

Civil society and boycott campaign record. Maserati is not on the BDS Movement’s official priority corporate boycott list ¹¹⁴. Maserati, Fiat, FCA, and Stellantis are absent from the Who Profits Research Center database; a comprehensive search of that database returned no dedicated company profile for any of these entities, in contrast to automotive peers including General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Volvo, Land Rover, and Mercedes-Benz, all of which carry Who Profits profiles predicated on documented direct-delivery or deployment records for Israeli military or settlement use ⁹. At least one civil-society-adjacent consumer boycott resource categorises Maserati as “Level 3 - Associated with Israel (operates in Israel),” citing the presence of an authorised distributor in the Israeli market; this designation is distinct from the official BDS Movement’s priority campaign targets ¹⁵. No documented BDS campaign specifically targeting Maserati has been identified, and no Maserati or Stellantis response to any such campaign has been documented ¹.

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

Employee relations. No public reports, controversies, or legal actions regarding HR enforcement at Maserati or Stellantis concerning employee speech, political symbols, or union activity related to the Israel-Palestine conflict have been identified ¹. Maserati has no identified direct Israeli employees, as Israeli market operations are conducted entirely through independent importer Samelet ¹. No Stellantis policy document specific to IDF reservist leave or military leave obligations for Israeli-based employees has been identified in public sources ¹.

Platform and editorial policy. No public evidence identified. Maserati is an automotive manufacturer without a consumer content platform, editorial function, or app store. No independent regulatory inquiry or published report concerning algorithmic moderation, content suppression, or political speech policies exists for Maserati or Stellantis in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict ¹.

Retail and supply chain practices. No public reports or regulatory actions regarding the labelling, sourcing, or categorisation of products originating from Israeli settlements have been identified for Maserati or Stellantis ¹. The GranTurismo Folgore - the first Maserati battery-electric vehicle - sources battery cells from LG (Polish manufacture) and the Stellantis Automotive Cells Company (ACC) joint venture (cell production: France); no Israeli-linked battery or battery-management supplier has been identified in Maserati’s disclosed supply chain ¹.

OECD NCP complaints (supply chain context). The two active OECD NCP complaints against Stellantis - FOCSIV and others vs. Stellantis Italy, and Italian CSOs vs. Stellantis NV and Stellantis Italy - both concern cobalt supply chain transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and carry no nexus to Israel, Palestine, or the occupied territory ¹²¹³.

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

Brand identity. Maserati’s commercial identity is built on Italian racing heritage (founded 1914, Bologna) and luxury Italian craftsmanship ¹. No defence-sector origin, military branding, or state-security mandate forms part of Maserati’s corporate or commercial identity ¹. Maserati MSG Racing competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship as a civilian motorsport programme ⁴.

Stellantis–Israel Innovation Authority MOU (7 April 2021). FCA Italy S.p.A. - the Stellantis subsidiary under which Maserati sits as a portfolio brand - and the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 7 April 2021 under the IIA’s R&D and Pilot Collaboration with Multinational Corporations Programme ⁵⁶¹⁶. The MOU was signed by Dr Ami Applebaum (IIA Chairperson) and Roberto Di Stefano (e-Mobility, Stellantis), with declared focus areas encompassing driving assistance systems, cybersecurity, and Industry 4.0 ⁵¹⁶. Stellantis reported having evaluated more than 30 Israeli startups in the preceding year, with multiple proof-of-concept projects underway at the time of signing; the names of those startups were withheld as confidential ⁵⁶. Other multinational corporations participating in the same IIA programme include Intel, Audi, Renault, Panasonic, and IBM, indicating a non-exclusive and broadly subscribed state cooperation framework ⁵.

FCA–Fuel Choices Initiative MOU (9 February 2015) [pre-2020]. On 9 February 2015, FCA, Iveco (CNH Industrial), and Magneti Marelli signed a non-binding MOU with Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office via the Israel Fuel Choices Initiative - a ten-year PM’s-Office-managed programme - covering natural-gas vehicle technology cooperation and potential R&D partnerships with Israeli firms ¹⁷¹⁸. A documented outcome of this partnership was the sale of an Iveco Stralis CNG truck to Israeli logistics company Fridenson Group, managed through Samelet (then operating as MCA), and the display of a FCA-branded methane-powered Fiat 500L at Israel’s pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 ¹⁹.

FCA–BMW–Intel–Mobileye autonomous driving consortium (August 2017) [pre-2020]. On 16 August 2017, FCA joined BMW Group, Intel, and Mobileye - an Israeli-founded company, then an Intel subsidiary, headquartered in Jerusalem - in a framework for developing a Level 3–5 autonomous driving platform targeting commercial deployment by 2021 ²⁰²¹. FCA was to contribute engineering resources and vehicle integration to the consortium ²⁰²¹. BMW subsequently withdrew from the collaboration following the suspension of the BMW–Mercedes-Benz joint automated driving programme in June 2020, and no Maserati-production-level integration of Mobileye or Mobileye-derived technology has been confirmed in any public source ²⁰²¹.

Stellantis Venture and Startup Awards programmes. Stellantis held Startup Awards ceremonies in July 2022 and December 2023, recognising top-performing technology partnerships across its global innovation ecosystem, which included Israeli technology companies evaluated under the IIA MOU framework ²²²³²⁴. The identities of specific Israeli startups recognised under these programmes are not fully enumerated in published sources ²³²²²⁴.

Absence of state honours and Brand Israel affiliations. No acceptance of Israeli state honours by Maserati or Stellantis has been identified ¹. No formal non-commercial partnerships between Maserati or Stellantis and Israeli state academic or governmental institutions beyond those described above have been identified ¹. No corporate sponsorship of “Brand Israel” or Israeli government public diplomacy campaigns has been identified ¹.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

EU lobbying. According to Stellantis’s 2024 EU Transparency Register datacard, its declared lobbying interests span automotive regulation, emissions standards (post-Euro 6), EV policy (CO2 standards, battery directive), trade, the EU Data Act, and intelligent transport systems, with no declared lobbying activity on Middle East policy, Israel-Palestine, or anti-BDS legislation ²⁵. Stellantis reported EU lobbying expenditure of €700,000–€799,999 for 2024, with named EU lobbyists including Christian Kiel-Demartial, Anna Bartnik, Jason Barth, and Christoph Hinrichsen ²⁵.

US lobbying and political spending. Per OpenSecrets federal disclosure records, Stellantis NV reports no outside political spending in the 2024 US election cycle, with declared lobbying focused on fuel-economy standards, EV tax credits, trade tariffs, labour, and manufacturing policy ²⁶. No lobbying activity on Israel, Palestine, or anti-BDS legislation has been identified for Stellantis in US federal disclosure records ²⁶.

Advocacy affiliations. No Stellantis or Maserati leadership roles in geopolitical pressure groups or advocacy organisations - including AIPAC, Conservative Friends of Israel, the US-Israel Science & Technology Foundation, the ADL, or analogous bodies - have been identified ¹.

Financial contributions. No corporate donations by Maserati S.p.A. or Stellantis N.V. to Israeli settlement organisations, Friends of the IDF (FIDF), the Jewish National Fund (JNF/KKL), or analogous organisations have been identified in public records ¹. No corporate donations to Palestinian humanitarian organisations have been identified for Maserati S.p.A. or Stellantis N.V. ¹.

Crisis asset mobilisation. No instance of Maserati or Stellantis directing vehicles, logistics capacity, cloud computing credits, free services, or physical infrastructure to assist Israeli state, military, or state-aligned NGO efforts during the post-October 2023 period of active conflict has been identified ¹. The April 2022 Formula E Ukraine support - consisting of a race-car livery change and a principal-sponsor donation to World Central Kitchen - was executed by ROKiT Venturi Racing and its sponsor, not by Maserati S.p.A., which held the title-partner role ⁴.

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

Founding mandate and corporate purpose. Maserati S.p.A. was founded on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, by brothers Alfieri, Ettore, and Ernesto Maserati, with a primary corporate mission of luxury automotive manufacturing and motorsport competition ¹. No evidence of a founding mandate explicitly tied to advancing Italian or any other state’s geopolitical goals has been identified ¹.

Legal form and governance. Stellantis N.V. is a commercial public limited company incorporated in the Netherlands and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the NYSE (ticker: STLA) ¹. No state-held golden shares in Maserati S.p.A. or Stellantis N.V. have been identified ¹.

Ownership structure. The disclosed Stellantis N.V. shareholder structure is: Exor N.V./Agnelli family approximately 23.89%; Peugeot Invest approximately 11.92%; Bpifrance Participations (French state) approximately 10.24% ¹. Bpifrance’s approximately 10.24% stake represents indirect French state interest consistent with standard French industrial policy - Bpifrance holds positions across numerous major French and European corporations - and no evidence that this stake confers any geopolitically directive role with respect to Israel or Palestine has been identified ¹.

Executive & Leadership Footprint

John Elkann (Chairman, Stellantis N.V.; CEO, Exor N.V.). John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976, New York City; Italian citizen) serves as CEO of Exor N.V. - the Agnelli family holding company and Stellantis’s controlling shareholder - and simultaneously as Chairman of Stellantis N.V. and Executive Chairman of Ferrari N.V.; he also chairs the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation ²⁷. On the paternal side, Elkann’s father Alain Elkann is of French-Jewish and Italian-Jewish heritage; Alain’s paternal grandfather, Jean-Paul Elkann, served as Chairman of Dior and as President of the Israelite Central Consistory of France from 1982 to 1992, and Alain’s maternal family is the Ovazza banking family of Turin; John Elkann was raised Catholic ²⁸²⁷²⁹. No documented personal donations by John Elkann to FIDF, JNF, AIPAC, or Israeli settlement organisations have been identified in public records; one Israeli tech-media source (Calcalist, October 2024) characterises any such donations as “rumoured” and “unconfirmed” ²⁸. No public statement by John Elkann on the Israel-Palestine conflict has been identified ¹²⁷. No board memberships by John Elkann in pro-Israel advocacy organisations - including AIPAC, Conservative Friends of Israel, the ADL, FIDF, JNF, Im Tirtzu, or Regavim - have been identified ¹.

Exor Investments (Israel) Ltd. Exor N.V. maintains a registered entity, Exor Investments (Israel) Ltd., at 11 Begin Menachem Road, Ramat Gan, Israel, classified under “Other Financial Investment Activities / Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation” ³⁰. The operational scope, current investment targets, and active status of this entity are not publicly disclosed beyond that business classification, and no connection to Israeli defence, surveillance, or settlement-linked activities has been established or excluded on the basis of publicly available sources ³⁰.

Exor Ventures - Israeli portfolio (discontinued 2024). Exor Ventures, discontinued as a dedicated investment programme in 2024, made documented investments that included participation in Chain Reaction, an Israeli blockchain and privacy semiconductor company based in Yokneam that raised $70 million or more in disclosed funding rounds ³¹. No automotive, defence, or settlement-related application has been identified for Chain Reaction ³¹.

Alain Elkann (author and journalist; no executive role). Alain Elkann is John Elkann’s father and a published novelist and journalist; he holds no identified executive, board, or operational role in Maserati, Stellantis, Exor, or Ferrari ²⁹. On 10 June 2010, Alain Elkann published an appeal urging diaspora Jews to obtain Israeli citizenship, stating: “If a Jew really wants to be a genuine Jew, he or she must become an Israeli. I do not believe that this transformation should take place immediately, but it is a necessary step in order to discourage the detractors and enemies of the Jews” - published in La Stampa (Turin) and syndicated in France ³²²⁹. Alain Elkann’s personal interview platform features Israel-related interviews including: Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress (March 2021); Chemi Peres, co-founder of Israeli venture capital firm Pitango and son of former Israeli president Shimon Peres (March 2023); Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai (September 2025 and December 2022); Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni (December 2025); and rabbi Pauline Bebe (March 2024) ³³. No content on the interview platform addressing Gaza, the occupation, or Palestinian rights has been identified ³³. No post-October 2023 public statement by Alain Elkann specifically addressing Gaza civilian harm, the Israeli military campaign, or Palestinian rights has been identified ¹.

Antonio Filosa (CEO, Stellantis N.V., from 23 June 2025). Antonio Filosa, an Italian executive born in Naples, assumed the position of Stellantis CEO on 23 June 2025, succeeding Carlos Tavares ³⁴. No public statements on the Israel-Palestine conflict have been identified for Filosa, and his personal affiliations and philanthropic activities are not yet extensively documented in open sources ³⁴.

Carlos Tavares (former CEO, Stellantis N.V., January 2021–December 2024). Tavares resigned abruptly on 1 December 2024; no public statements on the Israel-Palestine conflict were attributed to Tavares during his tenure as CEO ¹.

Samelet and the Levi family (Israeli importer for Maserati). Samelet is owned by the Levi family; its founder, Ennio Levi, an Italian-born businessman who emigrated to Israel, is characterised on Samelet’s own website as “an Italian textile factory owner and Zionist” ³⁵. Ennio Levi founded NILIT Ltd., a nylon 6.6 manufacturer, in 1969 in Migdal HaEmek, Israel - a municipality within pre-1967 Israel, not a settlement ³⁶. Current operations are managed by Michael P. Levi, who oversees both NILIT and MCA Ltd. (Samelet) ³⁵³⁶. No philanthropy, political donations, or public political statements by the Levi family regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict have been identified in sources reviewed ¹. Samelet functions as an independent national importer; its political profile is not directly attributable as Maserati S.p.A. corporate conduct under standard attribution frameworks, though the distributorship relationship establishes a documented business connection to Israeli market operations ¹.

End Notes