Fiat Chrysler to resume work on Jeep plug-in hybrids at Melfi plant

MILAN -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles asked a portion of its workforce to return to its factory in Melfi, southern Italy, starting Monday.

They will prepare the facility for the final development of the new plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep Compass and Renegade, a union representative said on Friday.

Marco Lomio, of the UILM union, said the automaker had informed unions that workers would have to complete cars left unfinished on Melfi's assembly lines when the plant was shut in mid-March following rules imposed by Rome to stem the coronavirus spread.

"We will start with 500 people on Monday and we will peak on Wednesday with about 1,000 workers," Lomio said.

This would then allow FCA to have lines free to build prototypes of new variants of the Compass and Renegade, he said.