An increasingly complicated situation for the Fiat 500e

Stellantis may halt production of the Fiat 500e for the third time this year at Mirafiori

Certainly, this year has been anything but restful for Mirafiori, the historic Fiat factory site. Well, actually yes. For the third time this year, the plant will likely suspend production, due to insufficient demand. The first halt occurred in February and lasted a month. Afterwards, the factory operated at a slow pace until April. Recently, from mid-September to November, the plant was closed again before resuming slow operations since November 4.

Today, according to information released by a union source but not confirmed by the manufacturer, the plant is expected to close from early December until January 7, 2025. A further blow as, from January to September 2024, Fiat sold fewer than 25,000 units of its iconic city car. A year earlier, this number was 48,000. Even worse, Stellantis, which owns Fiat, had planned to sell 100,000 units of the Fiat 500e each year.

How to explain such figures for the Fiat 500e?

This is a bit of a cold shower for the manufacturer, and it’s understandable. The results are far below expectations. But how to explain this phenomenon? The first point to consider is probably price. The Fiat 500e is currently available from €30,000, a very high price for a small car with not exceptional performance.

Furthermore, competition is not helping Fiat’s cause. Similar models like the Citroën ë-C3 make it more difficult. Moreover, the Renault 5 E-Tech will soon enter the market and will attract more customers away from the Stellantis subsidiary.

It is said that Fiat will soon have access to cheaper LFP batteries, which could help the manufacturer sell more vehicles. In the meantime, the price of the Fiat 500 electric has significantly decreased in France. Thanks to various incentives, the Fiat 500e RED 95 hp drops from €30,400 to €22,400.

See also: Platum disguises a Fiat 500e as an electric scooter