Pathetic situation, the Fiat Topolino is banned from Italy

The Italian government has found a scapegoat in the corporate identity of Stellantis accused of outraging Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

Fiat was already struggling to sell its Topolino in Italy, but a rather peculiar event threatens to complicate its task even further. All because of a unfortunate little Italian flag. Indeed, 134 of these cars were confiscated by the Italian police due to this small national emblem stuck on the bodywork.

To untangle the knots of this bizarre story, it is important to know that the Topolino is not made in Italy but in Morocco at a factory belonging to its parent company Stellantis. This is the factory where the Topolino’s cousins, the Citroën Ami and the Opel Rocks Electric, are also produced. A law has prohibited since 2003 Italian brands, including Fiat, from using the Italian flag for products made abroad. While the spirit of the law, which is quite sensible, is to prevent brands from claiming any misleading Italian origin, it has never been enforced until now for a simple reminder of the company’s identity. An accessory that is more aesthetic than a claim of any “Made in Italy”.

Hide this flag that I cannot see!

To retrieve the seized cars, Fiat will have to pay a fine of 250 euros per vehicle. A trifling amount, of course, but the symbolism is very strong and could signal the end of the little license-free car’s career in Italy.

A month ago, another Italian brand from the Stellantis Group faced the wrath of the government of the very conservative Giorgia Meloni. An official from the Italian government stated that the use of the name “Milano,” chosen by Alfa Romeo for its new compact sports car, just unveiled to the public, was against the law. After the shock wore off, the controversy escalated to the point that barely presented, the small SUV was immediately rebranded as “Junior”. And a communication campaign went to waste, although Alfa Romeo did manage to send a small message thanking the government for this free publicity.

Fiat has no choice but to remove the little flag from all Topolinos and be careful not to be seen as an Italian brand when producing abroad. The images of the Topolino show that better support for a national flagship than the purchase by Stellantis certainly saved it from a slow agony.