Fiat 500e production halted due to weak demand

The Fiat 500e isn’t selling well.

Stellantis paused production of the pint-sized electric car on Sept. 12 noting sluggish demand. Reuters reported on Tuesday that production is not scheduled to resume until Nov. 1.

The original production halt was only slated to last four weeks with a restart date set for Oct. 11.

Stellantis, Fiat’s parent company, slowed production operations at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy in February noting it was a response to weak market demand for the electric Fiat 500e. The slowdown was set to have the plant operating at a single reduced eight-hour shift schedule. Previously the plant was running two shifts.

2024 Fiat 500e

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares will meet with the Italian parliamentary committee next week to discuss the automaker’s Italian production, according to Reuters.

Reuters reported that despite the production stop Stellantis recommitted to its plan of investing 100 million euros ($111 million) into assembly of an improved battery pack and to produce a new 500 Hybrid model in early 2026.

In September Italian officials told the European Union that it needed to review the plan to end sales of new internal-combustion cars by 2035.

“The ban must be changed,” Italian energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said. The government official called the ban “absurd” and that it’s being dictated by an “ideological vision.” 

The 2024 Fiat 500e costs $34,095 and has 149 miles of EPA-rated range. EV kind of cars said it “charms city drivers” when we drove it in April.