It’s well known that Fiat‘s production plants in Italy have been functioning well below their intended capacity for years, as is the local automakers’ frequent use of state-backed programs to temporarily lay off some of its workers.
This time, due to poor demand for the Panda city car, they’ve announced the complete shutdown of production at the Pomigliano plant located near Naples.
Reuters reports that “some 1,950 of the plant’s 4,500 workers have already been on so-called solidarity contracts since March, under which they agree to work less and are also paid less in exchange for workers retaining their jobs.”
Production will be suspended from October 16 to 27, but Fiat did announce that “it would reinstate all workers currently on the various layoff schemes.”
The current generation Panda has been in production since 2011; it shares its underpinnings with the smaller 500 and the Lancia Ypsilon, though it’s far boxier than either and therefor much more practical.
Note: all-wheel drive Panda Cross pictured
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