Fiat 500 Hybrid to Jumpstart Italian City Car Comeback

Fiat 500 Hybrid to Jumpstart Italian City Car Comeback​

Affordable New Hybrid Hits Production in November, with a Budget-Friendly 500e BEV Coming in 2027​

Fiat is going back to basics in a big way, and it’s all riding on a new version of its iconic 500 city car. Starting this November, the brand will launch the Fiat 500 Ibrida (Hybrid) — a more affordable and practical version of the popular hatchback — in an effort to revive its struggling vehicle production in Italy.

Fiat 500 Hybrid to Jumpstart Italian City Car Comeback

Explore the Fiat 500 Hybrid to jumpstart Italian city car comeback with affordability and improved fuel economy.

moparinsiders.com

 

[patfromigh]

The Fiat brand needs a total makeover in the US. The 500e is not affordable in America like in Europe. It will be very hard to justify any investment in changes when a product sells only in the hundreds.

I've discussed my ideas for fixing the Fiat mess in the US many times in other threads. The marketing strategy is all wrong for our market. Instead of the boutique outlet strategy, use Free2Move and offer Fiat products curbside.

The market in the US is rapidly and radically changing. The EV mandates are done both politically and culturally in America. Consumers here want hybrids, but the 6-speed mild hybrid won't cut it on our continent, even if it's confined to urban environments. The 1.5 GSE hybrid the Euro Jeep Renegade uses would work in a Fiat here, as would an Abarth using the 6-speed manual with the GSE four engine, but the US sales are not enough to justify the development costs. Such powertrain combinations are soon out for Europe when the EU overlords double down on their EV mandates.

Small urban battery electrics like the Fiat 500e make a lot of sense in the Urban areas along the Acela Corridor and other places like that in America, but once the government financial incentives end it will be a very hard sell. What happened to sales in Germany after government incentives ended offers us a preview.

The Fiat brand does well elsewhere because other markets are offering more than one model. We could use the Grande Panda here.

 

[TripleT]

At the time, I said it was a Critical error not the have a petrol version at launch. Regardless of regulatory environment in Europe people have range anxiety.

Pepe instead of learning from this applied this strategy across Europe and NA... no lesson learned. Why Brazil and India was spared confounds me.

Then the influx of Chinese built B segment EV at crazy affordable prices.... they didn't see that one coming. If I didn't know better one would guess the French'centric leadership purposefully sabotaged the core Italian brand by making it best selling product less useful and even less affordable.

And here we are late to party.... AGAIN.