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At the beginning of September, the group Stellantis decided to pause the production of Fiat 500e electric because it is simply not sold. Initially, production was to resume this October, but the brand has decided to extend the break until November. Thus, the Italian plant Mirafiori will be stopped almost two monthswithout a single car leaving its lines.
It has not been liked in Italy to the point that Carlos Tavaresthe CEO of the Stellantis group, will appear before the Italian parliament to explain why.
Fiat 500e sales have fallen by almost half in six months
According to data collected by Dataforce, in the first six months of the year, 20,704 units of the Fiat 500e, registering a 42% decrease compared to the same period in 2023. In this second half of the year, the car has just been released in the United States and only a hundred copies have been sold. It is not the shock they expected at the factory.
If the Fiat 500e continues to sell at this rate, by the end of the year only about 35,000 units will have been sold in Europe, despite the fact that the Mirafiori plant where it is produced has a capacity of 100,000 units per year.
A situation so problematic that the brand decided to cut corners and paralyze production of the Fiat 500e until it got rid of the stock of unsold cars. Production of the 500e was originally put on pause in the second week of September, with a promise to resume on October 11. That deadline has now been officially pushed back to November 1. Which has worsened the institutional crisis in Italy that confronts the Government and Stellantis.
Thus, the General Director of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, plans to appear before the Committee on Productive Activities, Commerce and Tourism of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and present a complete report on the company’s automotive production in Italy. Let us remember that the current Italian government is at odds with Stellantis due to, the Italian executive considers, a lack of production in Italy.
Stellantis has confirmed the meeting in a statement, in which it expresses its “spirit of collaboration” and its willingness to dialogue with Italian institutions. In August, Minister Adolfo Urso threatened to withhold money from the recovery fund allocated to the automaker if it did not give clear answers about its projects and investments in Italy that continue to be delayed.
With thousands of jobs at stake and production falling, unions are growing concerned and are planning a demonstration on October 18.
“The level of precariousness is unacceptable and the entire automobile sector is on the brink of collapse,” announced Luigi Paone, General Secretary of the Uilm union. “The situation in Turin is increasingly alarming, and this latest closure makes it even more urgent government intervention to guarantee the stability of Italian factories,” he added.
After several months of a notable slowdown in sales of electric cars in Europe, they have risen again in many countries of the European Union. However, the reality behind those figures is very stubborn. People don’t buy electric cars, but essentially Tesla.
In Spain, almost the half of electric car sales They were made thanks to the signature of Elon Musk, while the rest of the brands are relegated to an extra role in a function in which they do not seem to have a relevant role in the short term. And many brands are suffering from it in their flesh, like Fiat.
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