F&I Management & Training

Fiat is temporarily shutting six Italian factories for a fortnight.

The carmaker said the move was needed because the end of car scrappage schemes in Europe had led to "a collapse in orders".

About half of Fiat's Italian car plant workers, some 30,000 people, will be affected. There were demonstrations over the weekend at Fiat factories.

Earlier this month, Italy's government announced it would not be renewing the country's car scrappage scheme.

The plants concerned, which make cars rather than trucks and farm machinery, are in Rome, Turin, Naples and Sicily. Five of them are owned by Fiat and the sixth is a joint venture with Peugeot.

"Over the past year we have had various plant stoppages, but this is first time that all the plants have been closed at the same time for two weeks," said Fiat UK chairman Richard Gadeselli.

He added: "The car industry in the past used to stockpile new cars, but now we're only building to demand."

The unions have requested a meeting with Fiat's management and the government on the future of Fiat.