Stellantis suspends production of the electric Fiat 500e

Due to weak demand, the automotive group Stellantis is pausing production of the all-electric Fiat 500e for four weeks. For the same reason, working hours has already been reduced at the Mirafiori plant near Turin in the first half of the year.

Although Stellantis wants to sell only electric cars in Europe from 2030, the road to this goal remains rocky. It has become more difficult for manufacturers to sell their electric cars, especially since some European subsidy programmes have expired or been paused. Stellantis is also feeling the effects. The company has thus now decided to suspend production of the all-electric Fiat 500e compact car for four weeks due to sluggish demand.

“The measure is necessary due to the current lack of orders linked to the deep difficulties experienced in the European electric (car) market by all producers, particularly the European ones,” Stellantis told the Reuters news agency. The production pause will begin this Friday. According to the company, Stellantis is “working hard to manage at its best this hard phase of transition.”

For example, Stellantis is investing 100 million euros in Mirafiori to give the Fiat 500e a more powerful battery and to develop a new hybrid version of the Fiat 500, which will launch between 2025 and 2026.

Production of the Fiat 500e has been cut back repeatedly in the past, partly due to a lack of components such as batteries or lower-than-expected demand. Working hours were already reduced at the Italian plant between February and April 2024.

reuters.com