Alexandre
Launched with a seductive design and 100 % Italian manufacturing, the electric Fiat 500 had a lot going for it. However, despite its popularity as a compact electric model, the reality of the 2024 market is less bright. In 2023, sales plateauedand this trend looks set to continue in 2024, when our estimates point to a dramatic fall in sales.
Sales in freefall
In 2023, the 500 electric model failed to exceed 65,000 units in Europe. Although this figure is still relatively high, it represents a stagnation compared to 2022, and even more so compared to previous years. In 2023 in France, 23,635 units were registered, followed by Germany with 23,180, and finally Italy, with just 4,749 units, a market where the electric Fiat 500 is still struggling to find its place. And 2024 is, unsurprisingly, on the decline.
| Fiat 500 BEV | |
|---|---|
| 2024 (forecast) | 30000 |
| 2023 | 65000 |
| 2022 | 66732 |
| 2021 | 44000 |
| 2020 | 10000 |
With purchase subsidies disappearing in Germany and minimal support in Italy, the year 2024 is not a boon for Fiat. The Mirafiori plant, which produces the 500 electric, has been shut down several times due to insufficient demand.. And even if France continues to support production of the 500 electric, the situation is becoming increasingly precarious. For the same reasons, the 500 electric didn't do well on the US market either.
Our estimated figures for 2024
Our forecasts for 2024 are just as worrying. Based on registrations in the main European countries, France over 12 months, and Germany and Italy over 11 months, the figures are alarming:
- France : 17,306 registrations
- Germany 7,441 registrations (11 months)
- Italy 2,345 registrations
This represents a drop of more than 50 % compared with 2023 figuresFrance recorded 23,635 registrations, Germany 23,180 and Italy 4,749. The Italian market, with 14,793 registrations of the Fiat 500 hybrid (from stock of the old version manufactured in Poland) compared with just 2,345 of the 100 % electric version, shows that Italians are not yet ready to switch en masse to electric, despite the Fiat 500's reputation.
| Registrations 500 BEV | France | Germany | Italy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (forecast) | 17 306 | 7 441* | 2345 |
| 2023 | 23 635 | 23 180 | 4749 |
* 11-month figures
A similar if not less good 2025
The outlook for 2025 doesn't seem much more optimistic. The Mirafiori plant will remain shut down until January 20, 2025which is still affecting production. No significant recovery expected before November 2025We're also looking forward to the arrival of a more efficient and less expensive electric Fiat 500, and the return of a hybrid model. This delay in introducing new models could prolong the stagnation in sales.
To cope with this drop in sales, it would be crucial for Germany and Italy to reintroduce more generous purchase subsidies to stimulate the market. For more information on the situation ahead, read our article " Why the current electric Fiat 500 will sell even less in 2025" .
Hello and happy new year.
For me, it's the state subsidies that are the problem (frankly, at the start the subsidies ... were subsidies ... but now it's our taxes that are being wasted).
The problem is just that Fiat or Stellantis don't know how to manage their products. The 500 hasn't evolved at all in 4 years, it's unacceptable. And among other things, the price, when you consider that the price of battery cells has collapsed in almost 2 years (roughly speaking, a battery in 2024 costs half of 2021). When you see the advertised price for the C3 or Panda EV, even though its battery is the same size, the current e500 price tag is a load of rubbish. I'm sorry, but we have to face reality.
You've summed up the problem of the 500th.
The 500e is an excellent micro-city car with premium positioning. It's very well made, with a well-finished interior and great features. Its price seems justified. But unfortunately, when you buy a car of this standing, you expect the technical specifications to match. And for an electric car, there's the power, but above all the performance of the batteries. And that's where FIAT missed the boat. For a city car, you might think that's fine, but in reality, when the competition is offering more, the comparison is bound to be stark, given the prices. And that's what customers are looking for. Barely out of the box, and already out of step with competing city cars on the technical front. Even more so now, with the electric Panda and C3 offering just as much, if not more, despite their low-cost positioning. It's a real head-scratcher.
And above all, FIAT does nothing to help it evolve. Why didn't they improve the batteries as they went along, as Renault did throughout the Zoé's career? Why didn't they bring out the hybrid version straight away, even though it was apparently compatible? Yes, it's coming out soon, as is an upgraded version, but it's far too late, and it's going to be very complicated to hold out until it's replaced in 2029. By then, it's not just the technical specifications that will be lacking, but the whole car! In short, it's a real shame for a product that could have been perfect. You can blame Carlos a lot for this, but he had nothing to do with the 500e's failings.
The 500e is a pure Fca product launched in 2020, made in haste without having prepared its evolution for times of great upheaval.
The comparison with the e 208 is cruel: launched in 2019, the Frenchwoman first upgraded its 136hp Continental engine, before offering the 1st M3 engine from the PSA/eMotors JV with 156hp and a slightly longer-range battery. The e 208 has succeeded in establishing itself on the EV market, with performance levels that remain at the top of the class. The new R5 offers nothing more, 6 years after its launch, apart from a funnier design...
Kein Wunder das es so läuft...die Italiener kaufen eben was sie wollen. In Deutschland waren die Zuschüsse plus Leasingangebote der Grund. Ansonsten will niemand einen Kleinstwagen für 30k€, welcher bei Langstrecke schon nach 200km eine Zwangspause benötigt.
We can see the limits to the sale of electric cars. For many reasons, it doesn't work, it costs much more to buy than a combustion car, the infrastructure is inadequate, it's impractical, etc...
And yet the Fiat 500e is an excellent city car. More and more subsidies will not force people to switch to electric cars.
Manufacturers who bet everything on electric cars are heading for disaster.
Sorry, but that's looking at the problem the wrong way round! or else. what about the electric panda?
Hello and happy new year
The marketing people at Stellantis really suck. The price positioning was no longer appropriate, as the competition had evolved in the meantime.
You talk about and encourage buying electric cars, ok, but, the most important question, what is the price of a battery if it would have to be changed?! The price of a combustion-powered car, or just symbolic?