Why Fiat is stopping production of its electric Fiat 500 ?

© Stellantis/Fiat

Presented for the first time on July 4, 1957, the legendary Fiat 500 recently celebrated its 67th Anniversary. “Even without a logo, name or flag, this car would still be recognized for its iconic design and the joy of living it represents” explained the Italian manufacturer at the time. It must be said that its iconic design and its enduring spirit of La Dolce Vita have been able to seduce motorists since the end of the 1950s. However, as sweet as life may be, Stellantis has just decided to pause production of the electric version. Ma perché ?

© Fiat

Fiat 500e, a market and price concern…?

Indeed, if the small electric Fiat 500 was still selling like hotcakes 2 years ago, the demand for the Italian electric mini city car quickly dried up. So much so that Last March, the Italian brand had a hard time selling all of its production, sales difficulties which then pushed Stellantis to consider a thermal version of the 500e.

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But starting today, the Mirafiori plant in Italy will stop production of the electric Fiat 500. The reason is a demand that continues to fall, with sales having plunged by more than 40% since the beginning of the year. Therefore, the decision was made to suspend production of the model for an initial period of four weeks. It should be remembered that the plant is capable of producing around 80,000 Fiat 500s each year.

© Pexels/Asif Methar

“The measure is made necessary by the current lack of orders linked to the performance of the electricity market in Europe, which is deeply troubled for all manufacturers, particularly European manufacturers” explains Stellantis. The group is also preparing a hybrid version, the Fiat 500 Ibrida, which is not expected to be marketed before the end of 2025 (or probably even 2026 in reality).

The Fiat 500e, like many other electric vehicles, is also faced with a faltering electric market, with the end of subsidies in some countries and this trend that seems to encourage buyers to move towards hybrid models, rather than 100% electric.

Added to this is another problem for the Fiat 500e, this time of a price nature, since the small Italian city car is available from €30,400, for a (theoretical) range of barely 190km. Not so sweet life then…

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