Italy’s Industry Minister, Flavio Zanonato, has set up a working group that will make every effort to keep Fiat’s five Italian car factories from closing, he told an Italian newspaper.

“I have created a working group for the automotive sector, and strongly hope Fiat will join,” Zanonato told Rome daily Il Messaggero. “Fiat is an asset for this country. We need to attack and resolve problems surrounding logistics and other bureaucracy.”

Fiat is Italy’s largest employer and loses money in Europe, a market on which it is heavily dependent. Italy is mired in its longest recession since the end of World War II.

After announcing plans to build new models in Italy at the end of last year, Fiat said earlier this month that new investments at two of its five plants are on hold after a court ruled that part of Italy’s labor statue was unconstitutional.

Italy’s automotive research group, Centro Studi Promotor, said earlier this month that it expected Italian car sales for this year would be around 1.26 million vehicles — a level not seen since the 1970s and a 50 percent decline compared with 2007.