MILAN -- Stellantis is adding a second shift at its factory in Pomigliano, Italy to increase output of the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV, while cutting a shift for the Fiat Panda minicar.
The production increase is expected to meet additional demand from export markets.
European sales of the Tonale started last spring. Deliveries to the U.S, where it will be sold only as a plug-in hybrid, will start in the second quarter. The Tonale was recently launched in Japan.
The Pomigliano factory in southern Italy will soon start production of the closely related Dodge Hornet compact SUV for North America.
With the new shift, Tonale output has increased to 400 vehicles a day, Stellantis said.
The production increase to two shifts per day on the Tonale line will end the temporary layoffs of 1,600 workers at the Pomigliano plant, according to the FIM union.
The union said that output at the factory increased by 34 percent in 2022 to 165,000 units, of which 20,000 were Tonales and 145,000 were Pandas.. Unions in Italy typically report production figures rather than automakers.