May 8 (Reuters) - Carmaker Stellantis has

agreed with trade unions to implement up to 200 voluntary

redundancies at its Termoli plant in central Italy, the company

said on Thursday.

The announcement follows similar ones on Wednesday and last

month for other Italian plants, allowing the Fiat-maker to

reduce its workforce in the country by up to some 1,000

employees.

The initiative is part of the company's strategy aimed

at rejuvenating its workforce in Italy, which recently included

around 300 new hires in Turin, the historic home city of Fiat,

and Atessa in central Italy, Stellantis ( STLA ) said in a statement.

The company has fewer than 40,000 staff in Italy, down from

55,000 in early 2021, when it was created through the merger of

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.

"Stellantis ( STLA ) reaffirms that Italy is at the centre of the

group's strategies," it said.

Stellantis ( STLA ) presented a plan to the Italian government last

December to revitalise its output in the country, following

years of declining production but the benefit is not expected to

be felt until next year.

In March, Stellantis ( STLA ) began preparatory activities at the

Termoli plant for installing a production line dedicated to

electric Dual Clutch Transmission (eDCT) gearboxes for current

and future hybrid vehicles.

With this development, Termoli became the third Stellantis ( STLA )

production hub alongside Mirafiori in Turin and Metz in France.

Termoli was also one of the sites that Stellantis ( STLA )-led joint

venture ACC picked to build its three EV battery making plants

in Europe, although ACC subsequently put the plans for

gigafactories in Italy and Germany on hold due to sluggish

market demand for electric vehicles.