Alexandre
During Fiat's 125th anniversary celebrations, several crucial pieces of information were revealed about the future of the brand and its vehicle range. Among these revelations, two in particular concern the Fiat 500 Ibridaa long-awaited model.
First, let's remember that the new 500 Ibrida, a thermal hybridwill be available from the end of 2025. It will be manufactured at Mirafiori, a historic Fiat site. However, just one month after the model's official launch, a surprising announcement was made by Fiat CEO Olivier François. Following a conversation with the mayor of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, it was decided to rename the 500 Ibrida. From now on, it will be known as 500 Torinoin homage to the city that will host it on its production lines.
The name change is intended to emphasize the importance of Turin in Fiat's history and future, but also to respond to the company's commitment to its customers. to the expectations of Italian politicians attending the brand's anniversary eventorganized by Stellantis. So now there's the Mirafiori 500 electric and the Torino 500 thermal hybrid. I'm not sure that's so easy for consumers to understand...
The second piece of information, and not the least, is that the 500 Torino will be the last thermal model in the Fiat 500 range. Olivier François confirmed that this model will mark the end of the combustion era for this emblematic range. In his opinion, the Fiat 500 is perfectly suited to electric power, and this hybrid version will serve as a transitional model until full electrification takes off, although it will be a long time before the Fiat 500 is ready for electric power. this process is slower than expected.
They're out of their depth at Fiat, declaring that the 500 Ibrida, or 500 Torino, will be the last internal combustion model.
You only have to go to Italian cities to see how few charging stations there are.
Italy, and Spain too, are lagging behind when it comes to the infrastructure needed to recharge electric cars easily.
In France, electric cars account for 17 % of new car sales, and it's not growing any more. I don't know about Italy.
Hybrid models will be needed for many years to come.
" Olivier François ha confermato che questo modello segnerà la fine dell'era della combustione interna per questa gamma iconica." Olivier dice sempre la stessa cosa e viene puntualmente smentito....
New figures for new car sales in France: the share of electric cars falls back a little to 12.5% (I had heard 17%, the figure was probably exaggerated), while the share of hybrids rises.
It's a fact of life that not everyone is going to go electric. The brands that are betting everything on electric cars are probably wrong.