(Refiles to fix typo in plant's name)

MILAN (Reuters) -Stellantis ( STLA ) has started a voluntary redundancy plan for 610 workers at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, after introducing the scheme at other Italian facilities, the automaker said on Monday.

Stellantis ( STLA ) is so far cutting up to 1,600 staff in total across Italy this year through the voluntary redundancy scheme. At Mirafiori, the scheme "is aimed at supporting early retirement or different career opportunities," a company spokesperson said, adding workers at Mirafiori can sign up for it until the end of July.

The Mirafiori plant will have a stable workforce from August to prepare for the launch of the new hybrid version of the Fiat 500 city car, the spokesperson said. Full-scale production of the new model is expected to start in November.

Luigi Paone of Uilm, one of the unions which agreed the voluntary redundancy plan with Stellantis ( STLA ), said it would be aimed at workers closer to retirement age.

The plan "should serve to pave the way for the hiring of young workers as we approach the production start-up of the hybrid 500," Paone said.

Between April and May Stellantis agreed similar packages at other assembly plants in Italy, including Melfi and Pomigliano, for a total workforce reduction of up to 1,660 workers this year.

The company has fewer than 40,000 staff in Italy, down from 55,000 in early 2021 when the group was created through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.