Fiat will stop making the Lancia Ypsilon at its Termini Imerese plant in Sicily from 2011, CEO Sergio Marchionne told Italian government and union officials today.
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The plant which is the smallest of Fiat’s five in Italy, employs 1,400 and will be kept going with production switched away from cars, Marchionne said.
A new platform would be introduced at the Alfa Romeo plant in Pomigliano near Naples from 2010 and output of its 159 Berlina and sport wagon would continue beyond then. Italian media had speculated that Pomigliano could have been closed if Fiat’s bid for Opel succeeded.
Marchionne was in Rome to outline Fiat’s production strategy after taking control last week of bankrupt Chrysler.
“Maintaining equilibrium in employment levels in the face of these extremely difficult market conditions is no easy task,” Marchionne said. “The production-related initiatives that we outlined today will contribute in part to achieving this target, but they also need to be financially viable.”
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By GlobalDataThe company will also cut jobs at CNH’s three construction equipment plants in Italy after “a very negative impact of a plunge in demand.” CNH accounts for about 40% of Fiat’s operating income.
Guglielmo Epifani, head of the CGIL labour union, told reporters in Rome that Fiat’s plan to end car production in Termini wasn’t acceptable. Fiat has idled the Sicilian plant for five of the past eight months as it halved production to counter sliding demand.
