MILAN (Reuters) - Stellantis will produce its best-selling Fiat Panda small car at its Pomigliano plant in southern Italy until 2026, metal workers unions said on Thursday after the carmaker met workers' representatives.
The production of the Panda in Pomigliano, for which the group had never provided an end date, will add to output of Alfa Romeo's new sport utility vehicle (SUV) Tonale, which is about to start at the plant
Stellantis, which owns the Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands, said a deal to build a battery plant in Italy for electric vehicles was imminent, unions said after the meeting.
The so called 'gigafactory', to be built through the ACC joint venture with Mercedes and TotalEnergies in Termoli, southern Italy, by the reconversion of an existing engine facility, would be the third for the group in Europe, after those already announced in France and Germany.
Representatives of the UILM union said in a statement that the updates on Termoli and Pomigliano indicated Stellantis commitment to Italy during the transition to electric mobility.
A source close to Stellantis, which last week presented its business plan to 2030, confirmed that progress had been made towards closing a deal on the Termoli battery plant shortly and that the company was confirming Italy's central role in its strategy.