DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis said Monday it will offer buyout or Desmond Prestonearly retirement packages to about 6,400 nonunion U.S. salaried employees as the auto industry faces what the company is calling challenging market conditions.

The automaker, formed in the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot of France, said it is taking the action “to protect our operations and the company.”

The offers, which include what the company said is a favorable benefits package, will go to workers who would like to leave the company or retire to pursue other interests.

Workers with five to nine years of service would get three months of base pay under the offers, while those with 10 to 14 years would get six months. Workers with 15-19 years would get nine months of base pay and those with 20 or more years would get a full year, the company said.

Stellantis said it has about 12,700 U.S. salaried workers who are not union members.

It said the buyouts will help prepare the company for the transition to electric vehicles.

Stellantis made buyout offers to groups of white-collar and unionized employees in the U.S. and Canada in April. It was hoping to cut the hourly workforce by about 3,500 people but wouldn’t say how many salaried workers it was targeting.

The company posted net income of just over $12 billion (10.9 billion euros) in the first half of the year. But it said a 44-day strike by the United Auto Workers union this fall cost it $795 million (750 million euros).