(Reuters) -Carmaker Stellantis has agreed with trade unions to implement up to 200 voluntary redundancies at its Termoli plant in central Italy, the company said on Thursday.
The announcement follows similar ones on Wednesday and last month for other Italian plants, allowing the Fiat-maker to reduce its workforce in the country by up to some 1,000 employees.
The initiative is part of the company’s strategy aimed at rejuvenating its workforce in Italy, which recently included around 300 new hires in Turin, the historic home city of Fiat, and Atessa in central Italy, Stellantis said in a statement.
The company has fewer than 40,000 staff in Italy, down from 55,000 in early 2021, when it was created through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.
“Stellantis reaffirms that Italy is at the centre of the group’s strategies,” it said.
Stellantis presented a plan to the Italian government last December to revitalise its output in the country, following years of declining production but the benefit is not expected to be felt until next year.
In March, Stellantis began preparatory activities at the Termoli plant for installing a production line dedicated to electric Dual Clutch Transmission (eDCT) gearboxes for current and future hybrid vehicles.
With this development, Termoli became the third Stellantis production hub alongside Mirafiori in Turin and Metz in France.
Termoli was also one of the sites that Stellantis-led joint venture ACC picked to build its three EV battery making plants in Europe, although ACC subsequently put the plans for gigafactories in Italy and Germany on hold due to sluggish market demand for electric vehicles.
(Reporting by Laura ContemoriEditing by Keith Weir)
