Fiat owner Stellantis said on Monday it would build a hybrid version of its 500e small electric car at its Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, amid a slowdown in electric vehicles (EVs) sales.
The announcement came after Carlos Tavares, CEO at Stellantis, met in Turin with union representatives who had long been asking the company to boost production at Fiat’s historic home with a new high-volume, cheaper model.
The factory currently produces the 500e model, but a global slowdown in sales of EVs has pushed Stellantis to significantly slow production rates, introducing protracted furlough periods for the plant’s workers.
“Tavares recalled the importance of offering affordable and high-quality cars for Italian customers,” Stellantis said in a statement.
It added that developing affordable cars also depended on external factors including lower energy costs, the development of a charging network for electric vehicles, and long-term subsidies for auto purchases.
The move might help the automaker improve its relations with the Italian government, which has often criticised the group for its falling output in the country and for making some of its Fiat and Alfa Romeo models abroad.
Stellantis – Italy’s only major automaker – and the Rome government are in talks over a plan aimed at restoring the group’s production in the country to one million units by the end of this decade from around 750,000 last year.
“The shared ambition with the Italian government to reach one million vehicles produced in Italy by 2030, will need a supportive business environment, currently impacted by electrification uncertainties and strong competition with new entrants to the market,” the automaker said.
FIM-Cisl union leader Ferdinando Uliano, who attended the meeting with Tavares, said Stellantis told him and others that production of the hybrid 500e would start in the first quarter of 2026 but did not give details about targeted output figures.
