‘Fiat Is the five hundred, No Different Automotive’

• Fiat CEO Olivier Francois advised Automotive and Driver on the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Present that the way forward for the model doesn’t embody a next-generation 500X SUV.
• The electrical 500e minicar would be the major focus beginning in 2024 as the corporate shifts its North American technique.
• That technique might embody subscriptions and car-sharing choices.

Fiat is discontinuing its SUV and shifting its focus again to the five hundred minicar, because the Cinquecento’s North American return was introduced at the moment on the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Present. The model at the moment has one mannequin on sale within the U.S.—the 500X SUV—however Fiat boss Olivier Francois advised Automotive and Driver that will probably be phased out after this present technology.

“Fiat is the five hundred, no different automobile,” Francois mentioned. “I’ve a really clear plan to not do anything than the five hundred.”

Fiat says the present 500X can be accessible via the tip of its present technology, though it declined to say precisely when that can be. We count on it’s going to soldier on at the very least till the 500e formally launches in America in 2024.

Francois additionally defined that the way forward for the model on U.S. shores is to function a studying alternative for mum or dad firm Stellantis because it eyes a transition to electrical autos. Experimentation with digital gross sales, month-to-month subscription companies, limited-release specialty fashions, and even a car-sharing service are all prospects for Fiat when the 500e goes on sale in 2024.

“The very last thing the American market wants is yet another mainstream mannequin or model,” Francois mentioned.

The automobile might be supplied in a wide range of physique types however maybe not concurrently, giving Fiat a possibility to modify to no matter appears widespread or desired by consumers at any given time. As an illustration, the 500e might be supplied solely as a convertible for a sure time frame, then swap again to gross sales of the hardtop. Whereas gross sales might nonetheless occur through the standard dealership mannequin, Fiat says a click-to-buy possibility is an attractive chance.

The model will concentrate on metro areas which might be greatest fitted to the automobile’s measurement and driving vary, however Francois added that rural and suburban consumers wouldn’t be locked out in the event that they so need a 500e. Pricing hasn’t been introduced however it’s possible that the 500e can be handled as a low-volume type merchandise relatively than a mass-market automobile, which might translate to higher-than-expected value tags.

The designer fashions proven on the L.A. Auto present might be a sign that branded collaboration fashions might play an enormous position within the automobile’s marketability. Fiat has a historical past of such collaborations, because the previous-generation automobile was bought as a Gucci version in America and in different markets underneath a partnership with luxurious yacht producer Riva.

This content material is imported from ballot. You could possibly discover the identical content material in one other format, otherwise you could possibly discover extra data, at their site.