FIAT Will Introduce The 500e To The North American Market On Thursday!

FIAT Will Introduce The 500e To The North American Market On Thursday!​

Electric City Car Returns...​

Is the FIAT brand getting ready to launch the new 500e in the North American market? It appears so.

Fans have been puzzled as to why FIAT didn’t launch the new 500e in the North American market, soon after its European launch in 2020. The Italian has continued to struggle over the past decade after making its return to the North American market in 2010. However, since then has eliminated its entire lineup of vehicles except for the 500X, which shares much of its underpinnings with the rugged Jeep® Renegade.

FIAT Will Introduce The 500e To The North American Market On Thursday!

Is the FIAT brand getting ready to launch the new 500e in the North American market? It appears so. Fans have been puzzled as to why FIAT didn't launch the new 500e in the North American market, soon after its European launch in 2020. The Italian has continued to struggle over the past decade...

moparinsiders.com

 

[GatorBrain]

I have 2017 500e. I love that car. I have about 85-90 mile range. I drive all over Bexar County TX daily. I come home plug it in to a 220v( from a dryer connection) and later in the evening it's fully charged for a night out. It is the most fun I can have four wheels; it's zippy, agile and city parking is a breeze. My other vehicle is a Ram crew cab; my go to for long trips.
I will buy the new 500e as soon as it is available.

 

[pumadog]

I wish the Carrefour near my house did the same in Brussels.
There's another supermarket chain that offers this already, but the more the merrier.
And again, this event was to announce that they will announce the Fiat 500e for the US in one year. Ridiculous. Why even bother?

Maybe to keep the dealers on board and potential customers in line?

Why do they wait so long? Do they have to start with the MCA model in 2024 for NA modifications? Do they plan to bring another car along, the C-SUV? Do they need all capacity for current markets until then?

 

[patfromigh]

It's not just Fiat, other automakers have had slow rollouts of their plugin vehicles. There seems to be a pattern of announcing a new EV model well in advance of production from the various auto companies. That said, I'm hoping for more than just one model from Fiat in the USA.

 

[Deckard Cain]

The 500e is already in production though. I do believe that pumadog has provided some good reasons as well.

 

[TripleT]

Its next model year, and they have to go through certification, and establish supply and Maintenace chains. Did everyone expect it to be announced then available?

 

[patfromigh]

Having now seen what the new Abarth 500 EV is, it is my hope is that the introduction of the regular Fiat 500e being a year away will also include an Abarth as well. Remember there wasn't Abarth as a separate brand in the USA. It was a marketed as an upper level Fiat here, and then the mid-level Abarth engine became standard on regular Fiats here. I'm also hoping Fiat uses their time wisely and has a better cadence of new model introductions this time around.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Its next model year, and they have to go through certification, and establish supply and Maintenace chains. Did everyone expect it to be announced then available?

I was expecting it to be available in 2023.

 

[TripleT]

I was expecting it to be available in 2023.

That is right NOW. Literally this moment. Magic wand of certification. Maybe Canada and Mexico but USA is not on the same certification standard.

 

[Deckard Cain]

Not model year, but current year. They mentioned introduction in the market in calendar year of 2024, not model year 2024.
I was expecting it to be for sale by June or September of next year. Not June or September of 2024.

Also, the 500e has been launched in 2020. There's no excuse for only starting the certification process for introduction in the NA market by the end of 2022.

 

[Bili]

This platform was designed from a get go as a suitable for US market. On the other way round certain other platform is non US compliant. Platform on which most of all new European Fiats will be based on including the upcoming 600.

 

[patfromigh]

All the auto companies have been slow to market their plugin models in the USA, whether they are plugin hybrid or pure battery electric vehicles. This situation existed before the chip shortage, which also is a global problem and not peculiar to the USA. The fact remains there are more EV models offered in Europe and Canada than in the United States. Even the plugin vehicles which are offered here are sold out and have waiting lists, such as the Ford Lightning EV pickup and the Toyota RAV4 PHEV. For these two it is probably the chip shortage. I am surprised to see some brands are still offering compliance cars in California. Such projects were supposed to be stop gaps during the previous decade until full production and marketing would be achieved by now. Now electric vehicle models we were supposed to get here are instead introduced and marketed in Europe.

I don't blame Fiat for dragging their feet, but I fear the Fiat brand has lost its sales momentum in the USA. We don't know if the Fiat USA management will correct their wayward course in our market. The Fiat 500X is offered here only as a mini-SUV with AWD, pushing it into a tiny niche in our market. If Americans want such a product the sales for the 500X wouldn't be constantly near zero on every sales report. If the new 500e is mismatched to the American market by only offering expensive collectors editions, it will be the end of the brand in the USA. I didn't hear "It's not green, unless it's green for everyone." during the Los Angles presentation. Admittedly the Fiat 500 can only be a niche vehicle in the US market, but it shouldn't be pushed into an even smaller niche by only selling it to affluent toy collectors. Some should tell Fiat "It won't sell unless it's sold to everyone."

It is with great irony that at the same time Elon Musk takes over Twitter, one of his other holdings, Tesla, will be introducing a small entry level EV. The Twitter buyout has started an avalanche of layoffs in the tech sector, which will eliminate many potential buyers looking to add another toy to their collection. The new Tesla model will be occupying the niche where the new Fiat 500e properly belongs.