Fiat have decided to make a second version of the second generation Fiat 500 with a Petrol engine as drivers have turned their backs on the brands EV models, according to Olivier Francois who is the CEO of Fiat.
The announcement, which was actually made in June, has confirmed that the venerable Italian brand will start to deliver the next generation Fiat 500 Ibrida early in 2026 which emphatically underlines the need to allow customers and not politicians decide how and what we decide to drive.
The 500 is Fiat’s best selling City-Car, and much loved by the buying public and me. I dearly wanted the Abarth version in Malaysia but try as I could, I just couldn’t find one in my cheapskate budget range.
The new Ibrida will be based on the 500e’s EV platform and thus will conform to a number of EU safety regulations, which is something that the current 20-year-old Fiat 500 platform does not. This though is not the reason that the company has decided to build the new car.
Sales for their 500e have been so poor while demand for an ICE vehicle were so high. Last year of the 173,187 sold some 108,943 were ICE powered according to Francois.
Speaking during the 125th Anniversary of the Turin, Italy, based brand, Olivier Francois said “For me, the 500 is electric. We have the perfect car in the [500e],” he said. “That being said, we obviously, like everyone else, thought that the world would go electric faster and the cost of electrification would go down faster.
But, we couldn’t imagine that Covid would happen, shortage of raw materials would happen, the European Society, not all, not the youngest part, would turn their backs on the sustainable solutions”
Fiat is part of the Stellantis group that also owns the likes of Peugeot and Citroen and Jeep and Dodge. Despite the impending ban in 2035 of ICE vehicles they continue to push ahead with ICE versions of their vehicles as if they doubt that it will actually happen.
Perhaps they know something we do not.
