The Fiat 500e's debut on the market hasn't been easy. Several times already, the company has had to pause production of the electric city car due to slow sales and a glut of inventories.
After telling unions that the Mirafiori plant in Italy will be shut down from December 18 to January 5, Fiat now says the break will begin on December 2, i.e. next week.
The company points to the uncertainty of EV sales in several European markets to explain the move. In total, 97 percent of the vehicles manufactured at Mirafiori are all-electric.
Production of the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio will also be interrupted at the Stellantis plant in Turin. In their case, weak demand for luxury vehicles outside Europe, notably in the U.S. and China, is to blame.
Ironically, the Fiat 500e could get help from an unexpected source: combustion and/or hybrid engines. When the gas-engine 500 was petering out as its sales flatlined, it was thought electrification would be its salvation. Now? The company hopes to launch a hybrid version in 2026.
Clearly, Fiat's reputation is hurting it; it has often struggled with reliability issues, making buyers reluctant. And then there's the question of price. It may be that the Fiat 500e is one of the cheapest electric cars on the market, but it's still a subcompact with a more limited range of 227 km, and it's sold in Canada for $40,000.
