NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday

dismissed a lawsuit accusing the automaker Stellantis ( STLA )

of defrauding shareholders by failing to disclose how it

overloaded retailers with excessive inventory, known as channel

stuffing, leading to short-term sales increases and long-term

sales declines.

Stellantis ( STLA ), whose many brands include Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat,

Jeep and Peugeot, was accused in the proposed class action of

making false and misleading statements about its pricing power,

inventory and margins in light of the channel stuffing,

inflating its share price.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan concluded,

however, that shareholders did not demonstrate a strong

inference that Stellantis ( STLA ) was motivated to defraud them, or

offer strong circumstantial evidence of conscious misbehavior or

recklessness.