Alexandre
Don't be fooled: the current electric Fiat 500 will evolve in 2025. the all-new version of the Fiat 500 will not be released until 2030. Here's the chronicle of a plan that didn't go at all to plan.
It all begins in 2020, at a time when Fiatstill under the aegis of FCA, is preparing a major launch. The company goes all electric with the new Fiat 500, a 100 % electric model.The aim is clear: to make the new Fiat 500 the spearhead of the transition to greener mobility. The aim is clear: to make the new Fiat 500 the spearhead of the transition to greener mobility. This model is both innovative and ambitious. the only one in the Stellantis Group to be designed on the STLA City platformequipped with a GKN engine and Samsung battery. The gamble seems to have paid off, as the car is selling well, with 44,000 units sold in 2021 and 66,000 in 2022, boosted by state aid in France and Germanywhich puts the marketing campaign on a solid footing.
However, from 2024 onwards, the situation deteriorates. After an encouraging start, sales plummeted. From 65,000 units in 2023, production will no longer exceed 20,000 vehicles in 2024 (figures yet to be confirmed), a major blow for Fiat and a untenable situation for the Mirafiori plant in Italywhich was supposed to produce the new generations of the model. What happened to turn the situation into a crisis?
But Stellantis had a plan. In 2023, a document that we have obtained indicated the launch of an all-new Fiat 500 on the STLA Small platform as early as 2027with production scheduled until 2034. But the story has taken a new turn. Weak sales forced the group to scale back its ambitions. Instead of staying the course, Stellantis took the decision, in 2024, toinvest 100 million euros to improve the current version of the Fiat 500. The aim: to increase the model's range and make the price more attractive, while adding a thermal hybrid version, albeit one that is not yet available. Fiat had stated that it had no intention of venturing into this area..
The strategic turnaround was confirmed in May 2024 by Carlos TavaresFiat's then CEO, Stellantis, but without announcing any specific dates. It wasn't until a month later, in June, that Olivier François, CEO of Fiat, has announced the launch of the Fiat 500 hybridproduced at Mirafiori on the STLA City platform, with, as we recently learned, launch scheduled for November 2025. A game-changing announcement: the Fiat 500 hybrid, which was never to arrive, will become a flagship model for the group to compensate for declining sales.
But what about the new all-electric version initially scheduled for 2027? Well, it will wait until 2030. In the industrial plan unveiled by Jean-Philippe Imparato, the new CEO of Stellantis Europe, the advanced electric Fiat 500 100 % with a new battery will be launched in 2025, followed by the next generation in 2030. So there's a big difference between the 2020 model, based on the STLA City platform, and the 2030 model, based on the STLA Small platform. This seemingly well thought-out plan has been disrupted by an economic reality that no longer allows us to keep to the original timetable.
Fiat's successive announcements reveal a gap between initial ambitions and market reality. The 2020 model, supposed to be quickly replaced in 2027 by an all-new version, will ultimately be extended well beyond that date. And in 2030 the new Fiat 500 will arrive, this time, once again, offered only in 100 % electric.
The Fiat 500e is an excellent city car, luxurious, very pleasant to drive, and always on the ball. Its only faults are its price, and a range that's too short. Why did you want to replace it prematurely when it's so good? With a hybrid version at the right price, it would have sold very well, like the previous version. And now Fiat wants to make an exclusively electric version to succeed it in 2030? But who's to say that everyone will go electric?
Don't forget the back seats are smaller than the old version and they don't fold flat enough. Ad that third door to right hand drive models and you have a perfect small pocket rocket.
That's not really a problem with a very pleasant FCA base, and the timeless styling isn't destined to change dramatically anyway. It remains to be seen whether the battery will have the same capacity as that of the Fiat Grande Panda. I hope Fiat will take the opportunity to upgrade the U-Connect system. It's still an excellent car, so if we can bring the price down considerably by pooling the engines and batteries, we should see good sales again.
Wir haben uns bewusst für den Fiat 500e entschieden, weil es ihn nur 100% elektro gibt/hab. Dass das Fahrzeug jetzt auch als Hybrid kommen wird, ist für mich ein weiterer Grund, nie mehr einen Fiat zu kaufen. Das Auto sieht toll aus, das wars. Alles andere ist Stand 2010 (oder früher) und/oder funktioniert nicht/unzuverlässig. Sehr schade!
Das kann doch nicht wirklich ein Grund zur Modellwahl sein: weil FIAT einen Hybrid anbietet überhaupt keinen FIAT mehr zu kaufen? Kann man sehr schwer nachvollziehen.
Aus eigener Erfahrung mit dem 500 Hybrid kann ich nur sagen, das ist der beste Fiat 500 jemals. Hatte übrigens auch schon den Vorgänger - also reinen Benziner.
Der Hybrid ist nochmal sparsamer: unter 5 Liter/100 km. Urlaubsfahrten über 600 km ohne Tankstopp sind kein Problem. Alles funktioniert mehr als zuverlässig. Ob es dabei noch eine Elektroversion gibt, ist mir völlig egal. Jedem das seine.
Das beste was Fiat gemacht hat ist der Abarth
What is the reason that Fiat pulled out of Canada
Achtung! Der Service von Stellantis ist katastrophal. Mein 550e Cabriolet steht nun seit 6 Wochen (2+4) in der Werkstatt wegen eines Radiofehlers (DAB+). Die haben keine Ahnung wie man sowas repariert. Die Werkstatt darf nur auf Geheiß und Absprache mit Stellantis reparieren.
Selbst dürfen sie keine Initiative nehmen.
Anstatt den Fehler zu suchen tauschen sie jetzt sequentiell alle Teile von der Antenne bis zum DAB Modul. Das kann noch Wochen dauern.