Fiat Chrysler to resume van production at Atessa plant in Italy

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to restart van production at its Atessa joint venture plant in central Italy at 70% of the normal rate, a union representative informed Reuters.

FCA and unions stated on Tuesday that the automaker prepared to restart the plant, which is a venture with France’s PSA Group, on April 27, a week before a national lockdown imposed by Rome was set to end.

It will make use of a provision in lockdown laws that permits companies whose activity can be associated to sectors deemed “essential” to resume.

Luca Manzi, from the UILM union, stated FCA had informed unions that it prepared to resume the plant at about 70% of its capacity, though he could not say precisely how many people would be back to work on Monday.

With a daily production of about 1,200 light commercial vehicles, Atessa, which is located in Italy’s Abruzzo region, is the largest van assembly facility in Europe. It remains shutdown since March because of the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The plant, which has hired around 6,500 people, is run by Sevel, a 50-50 joint venture between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA. It produces vans for both automakers.

Manzi added production would be complaint with the safety regulations and would restart with 17 worker shifts each week, as it was operating before the shut down.

Earlier this month FCA reached a deal with unions on how to adopt at its Italian plants once the government eases restrictions on commercial activity put in place to control the coronavirus outbreak.

About 189,973 people in Italy have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 25,549 people in the country.