ROME (Reuters) -ITB Auto is set to take over an idled auto components factory in northern Italy to produce Chinese electric minicars with an investment of about 100 million euros ($117.3 million), the industry ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry made the announcement after chairing crisis talks in Rome about the future of the Grugliasco plant near Turin, currently owned by U.S. auto parts company Lear Corporation.

Lear’s Grugliasco plant is one of many suppliers hit hard by the collapse of automotive production in Italy, which last year dropped to a nearly 70-year low.

The ITB plan foresees the production of 20,000 minicars per year and the re-employment of 200-250 of the plant’s 376 workers, the ministry said.

“Today we are laying the groundwork for another (industrial) crisis to b

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