STELLANTIS model Fiat is estimated to have misplaced 150,000 gross sales over the previous 18 months since discontinuing its petrol-powered Micro phase competitor, the five hundred hatch.
The confronting information has compelled the Italian car-maker to take what some are labelling “a extra pragmatic strategy”, with stories confirming Fiat will provide each full-electric and hybrid-combustion powertrains within the mannequin’s subsequent era as it really works to get better misplaced earnings.
Talking with Automotive Information Europe in Turin this week, Fiat chief govt officer Olivier Francois stated the following 500 is in its design part, with ultimate powertrain choices to depend upon “regulation and market response within the coming years”.
Earlier than then, the Italian model will launch a hybridised petrol-powered mannequin, dubbed the five hundred Hybrid, which is about to launch from December.
Anticipated to retail from round €17,000 ($A30,700) in its residence market, it’s hoped the five hundred Hybrid will revive curiosity within the present era mannequin – a mannequin that was designed from the outset as an electric-only car.
Whereas it isn’t identified how a lot re-engineering was undertaken to allow the present era 500e to simply accept a petroleum engine, stories point out that Stellantis spent €100 million ($A180m) to improve its Mirafiori facility to provide each 500e and 500 Hybrid variants.
GoAuto understands the 2026 Fiat 500 Hybrid will function a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with 48-volt gentle hybrid help dispatched to the entrance wheels through a six-speed handbook transmission.
Specs of the driveline are but to be revealed, nevertheless it’s assumed the unit is a resurrection of the providing discovered below the bonnet of the earlier era 500, producing 52kW and 92Nm.
The way forward for the 500e…
Launched in 2020, gross sales of the 500e in Europe and overseas have did not match these of the previous mannequin, partly due to its standing as an electric-only car, and partly from an astonishing enhance in worth.
In Europe, the present Fiat 500e is on the market from €29,950 ($A53,570) the place the petrol-powered predecessor was accessible from as little as €8999 ($A16,125), relying on market and trim stage.
Additional, the Fiat 500e has confronted stiff competitors since its arrival within the market, with a rising variety of entrants now accessible from Citroen, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, and a number of other Chinese language manufacturers.
“We thought that over time the planets – product, know-how, charging infrastructure, demand and public incentives – would have aligned. However they didn’t,” Mr Francois instructed Automotive Information Europe.
In keeping with figures provided by Dataforce, Fiat produced near 44,000 examples of the 500e in its first full calendar yr on sale (2021), and simply over 66,000 models in 2022.
That quantity fell barely to 62,000 models in 2023, and to only 29,000 models in 2024.
Within the first 5 months of 2025, it stands at simply 7000 models.
By means of comparability, the petrol-powered 500 persistently bought greater than 100,000 models every year.
Mr Francois stated that along with providing a mild-hybrid model of the present mannequin, Fiat will launch an “upgraded and cheaper model” of the 500e in 2027, with a goal worth of not more than €20,000 ($A35,840).
The mannequin is predicted to supply a decrease capability and cheaper chemistry battery than the present mannequin, alongside decrease gear ranges, and motor output figures.
The Fiat 500 in Australia
Whereas Fiat’s hopes for a surge in demand for electric-powered Micro automobiles didn’t eventuate – neither in Europe nor Australia – the 500e has not been with out its successes.
12 months-to-date figures to 30 June (2025) present 207 examples of the mannequin have been registered regionally, whereas within the 2024 full calendar yr the marque bought 527 examples, together with these of the Abarth efficiency variant.
VFACTS figures don’t breakdown Fiat 500 gross sales by motive drive sort however do present some 11,544 examples of the mannequin had been bought regionally between 2014 and 2024.
