Italian car maker Fiat has told the workforce on its electric 500 assembly line to down tools for a month due to lack of demand for the battery-powered city cars. The Mail has more.
Its parent company Stellantis said on Thursday it would suspend production of the fully electric Fiat 500e for four weeks due to sluggish demand.
The global slowdown in sales of electric vehicles, partly due to diverging policies on green incentives, has pushed car makers worldwide to adjust their EV plans, with Volvo earlier in the month abandoning its ambitions of becoming an electric-only auto maker in 2030.
“The measure is necessary due to the current lack of orders linked to the deep difficulties experienced in the European electric (car) market by all producers, particularly the European ones,” Stellantis said in a statement issued earlier in the week.
The 500 is made in Turin, the birthplace of the Fiat brand, at the historic Mirafiori plant.
The suspension of production will start on Friday, Stellantis said, adding it was “working hard to manage at its best this hard phase of transition”.
As part of these efforts, the Franco-Italian group said it is investing €100 million euros (£85 million) in the Mirafiori plant to adopt a higher performance battery.
Changes to the factory are also afoot due to the decision to produce a hybrid version of the 500 electric model, starting between 2025 and 2026 – another reactionary move to tackle a slowdown in EV demand.
When Fiat discussed the reasons behind the decision to reintroduce a petrol-hybrid powerplant – something it originally said it would not do with the intention of the new 500 being electric only – it pointed to older drivers in particular not wanting to buy battery-powered vehicles.
Worth reading in full – includes a rundown of other brands also delaying their electric transition, including Toyota, Renault and Mercedes.
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