Stellantis commitments in Italy unaffected by early loan repayment – union

MILAN (Reuters) – Management at carmaker Stellantis has confirmed its commitment to preserve jobs and plants in Italy despite the early repayment of a 6.3 billion euro ($7.03 billion) state-backed loan, the Uilm union said in a statement.

Stellantis said on Friday its unit FCA Italy and other Italian subsidiaries had repaid the loan to Italy’s top lender Intesa Sanpaolo.

Repaying the loan potentially frees Stellantis from conditions Rome attached to it, including preserving jobs at its Italian operations, making timely payments to suppliers and financing domestic investments in particular for electric vehicles.

($1 = 0.8963 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Maria Pia Quaglia; editing by Agnieszka Flak)