Fiat is to shut its troubled Pomigliano D’Arco plant yet again for another two weeks as plummeting demand continues to exact on its toll on European automakers.
The Pomigliano plant near Naples will close from 24-28 September and from 1-5 October, with all 2,200 workers only receiving 80% of their normal salary through Italy’s government cassa integrazione scheme.
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“The reason is because of the situation of the market, because of the sales,” a Fiat spokeswoman told just-auto from Turin. “We have the agreement of the unions for this.
“We told the unions the plant will be closed.”
Pomigliano’s woes are symptomatic of a Continent-wide malaise in the automotive sector, with PSA Peugeot Citroen announcing just weeks ago it intended to close its C3-producing plant at Aulnay near Paris and make up to 8,000 staff redundant.
Speculation has also continued in Italy this summer Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, could unveil plans to shut a further factory, although the manufacturer was remaining coy.
“We don’t know any update details,” said the Fiat spokeswoman. “Here [we are] closed until next week when production starts. This is normal for the summer holidays.”
Along with other southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece, Italy has seen a huge tail-off in demand as swingeing austerity measures take effect.
Introduced by new Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti, the painful cuts are an attempt to address the country’s vast debt mountain, but which have met a wave of public hostility such as the car transporter drivers strike earlier this year, which hit Fiat deliveries to dealers and customers.
