Alexandre
It's the hot news of the month, the possible return of the Fiat 500 combustion engine to the Mirafiori plant in Italywhich is subject to numerous production stoppages due to insufficient demand for the electric model. Of course, it was only a matter of rumors from Italy (where there's smoke, there's fire), and many technical and logistical questions arose. Thanks to a letter sent by Stellantis to suppliers, we have some answers.
From Stellantis suppliers received this letter "Dear supplier, we ask you to evaluate the costs and industrial capacities to meet the possible production of automotive components for the 332 model also in the internal combustion engine version for around 175,000 cars per year."
This letter provides a number of answers. The first is that it's not a rumor, but a fact. concrete evaluation of Stellantis to repatriate production of the combustion 500 to Italy. Secondly, that it is indeed a question of adapting the 332 version, i.e. the current electric model, into a combustion model. And finally, that Stellantis plans to produce at least 175,000 cars a year ! That's the level before electric and covid.
It is a a real turnaround. When we interviewed Fiat in January 2024, the message was very clear: the 500 electric is intended for hybrid use, but we won't be doing that. A sign that 2024 sales of the electric 500 aren't off to as good a start as expected, or that Stellantis is not content to sell 50,000 units a year while many potential customers are ready to buy a thermal version.
Then it's a matter of version 332 launched in 2020 and not the 2007 version. For those who think this will require months and millions of investment, Olivier François announced in 2020, as did Guillaume Clerc in 2024, that the electric 500 was designed to be a combustion-hybrid. The Pandina's hybrid combustion engine will certainly be used again.
The final question concerns the engine origin. Earlier this year, Stellantis closed the Polish plant that produced Firefly engines. It is very likely that the engines will be imported from Brazil, where they began their career and where they are very popular in this market.
What next? After the rumors and the letter to suppliers, now it's up to Stellantis management to give the project a go. This should take place in April, perhaps before the 10th so as not to disrupt the Alfa Romeo Milano presentation?
So Fiat foolishly deprived itself of 4 years of sales of a genuine best-seller?
Carlos is strong...
A if Stellantis could launch in production the electric design model in Hybrid Thermal 48 volts !!!! It would be a full sales carton!!! I can already see myself in the cabrio, Thank you Thank you Thank you All of you!
The auto industry is walking on its head these days, trying to revolutionize it in just 10 years, whereas it took 50,000 years to see a human being in a car.
Excellent news! Fingers crossed that this project comes to fruition!
They make me laugh 😀 with the electric car, while the standard of living in southern Italy is much lower than in Italy.
The North.
Who in Italy can afford an electric car at 25 or 30,000 euros?
Even me who lives in Belgium I would not give this price for an electric Fiat 500 at this price I can have a suv gas good day
You're right, but in France it's the opposite! The standard of living is 2 times higher south of the Loire than north!
What's more, in the North, electricity holds much less than in the South, where it's much hotter!
And what's more, for our Nordic colleagues, summer vacations on the Mediterranean via the freeway. Good luck!
Merci Thank you merci a vous Tous!
The Fiat 500 is a volume car. In its electric version, however, distribution is necessarily limited.
This about-turn by Fiat, which is set to offer a combustion version of the "new" 500, is welcome news.
Slowly but surely, everything is falling into place.
All we have to do now is wait for the Alfa, Lancia and Maserati V6 and V6 hybrid versions of the STLA Large, and we've come full circle.
...maybe even Abarth will come back to the 500 n
Great! and we should also have the Abarth with the 1.3 Firefly 180hp.
Let's hope for a "new generation" Abarth with a combustion engine of around 200 hp. If that happened, I'd go back to Abarth.
Fiat's greatest fear would be to put a 1.2 Puretech engine in its Auto range.
Mamamia...