Stellantis suspends Fiat 500e production for another month

Fiat has been trying to sell the 500e in the U.S. with multiple special editions, but without success

Sluggish demand for the all-electric Fiat 500e has once again prompted Stellantis to suspend production at the Italian factory where the small electric hatchback is built. Although Fiat hoped the 500e would be a breakthrough car, the reality was not to be.

Earlier this week, Stellantis confirmed that it would cease production at its Mirafiori plant between December 2 and January 5, 2025. Originally, the factory was scheduled to be closed from December 18 to January 5 for the Christmas and New Year holidays. However, the company recently notified the union that production will also be suspended from December 2 to December 17, extending the break than originally planned.

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The Fiat 500e has proven to be a thorn in Stellantis’ side in recent months. In September, the carmaking group revealed that production of the 500e would be suspended from the second week of that month until October 11. However, midway through the planned shutdown, Stellantis extended the shutdown to November 1.

This outage doesn’t just affect the 500e. According to Reuters, the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio are also produced at the Mirafiori plant, meaning both models will be affected by the December production shutdown.

The 500e was particularly poorly received in the United States. Although Fiat has released several special edition models in recent months, it has sold less than 500 vehicles locally this year. These include 500e Giorgio Armani, 500e “Inspired By Los Angeles”, 500e “Inspired By Beauty” and another “Inspired By Music”.

Read: Fiat still unable to sell 500e, extending EV production hiatus

While many companies would consider cutting their losses after disappointing sales, Stellantis is taking a different approach — at least for now. The brand has pledged to invest 100 million euros ($105 million) to develop new high-performance batteries for the 500e, which will improve its dismal range and help improve performance. Fiat is also reverse-engineering the 500e to accommodate a hybrid drivetrain and plans to launch the model in late 2025 or early 2026.