A Star Turn for Fiat’s 500e
But is the box office potential
of Tom Cruise enough to lift
this mini-car’s stateside fortunes?
What a difference a name makes.
When Fiat was flogging the 500e in dealer showrooms in California and Oregon in 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ then-CEO Sergio Marchionne bemoaned the fact that FCA lost more than $10,000 each time one rolled out of the showroom. “If you are considering buying a 500e I hope you don’t buy it, because every time I sell one it costs me $14,000,” he said at an appearance at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C..
2024 Abarth 500e
And even as recently as November 2022, it’s return to America seemed half-hearted at best. ““We’re capacity constrained. I can sell everything we make. I don’t need the U.S.,” said Olivier Francois, Fiat CEO and CMO Global of Stellantis, adding cryptically, “America doesn’t need Fiat. … I’m not going to push the car.”
Unbelievably, the comments came as the company was introducing the car at the 2023 L.A. Auto Show, denoting its return to America in 2024, showing off three Italian designer-based 500e concepts by Armani, Bulgari, and Kartell.
That said, it’s notable that the car isn’t named the Fiat 500e, but the Abarth 500e — Fiat’s performance brand. Clearly the company is hoping its high-performance magic can add allure to its revived electric car. And it must be working, as the 500e has been the 8th most-popular EV in Europe in the first four months of this year, selling 18,268 units.
Box office magic
Francois has always been a master marketer, and so, to push the latest rendition of its most iconic model, the automaker’s new marketing spot is tied to the upcoming movie, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” starring Tom Cruise, which opens in theatres July 12. The ad features Tom Cruise and co-star Hayley Atwell being chased through Rome in their 1960s-era Fiat 500 Abarth as it transforms in the new Abarth 500e.
Despite the rollout, the vehicle has yet to appear on the company’s U.S. website, at least, as of July 5.
What it offers
2024 Abarth 500e interior
While Fiat hasn’t revealed any details about the U.S. version, we do know that the European model debuted in May 2023 in Abarth 500e and 500e Turismo as either a two-door hatchback or cabriolet in fully equipped “Scorpionissima” trim. Unlike the previous 500, the newest version rejects its slavishly retro interior for a thoroughly modern one, with a 7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen.
But the car surely has more than a touch of Abarth under the skin, with a 0-100 kph time of 7 seconds according to the ad, and 1G of lateral acceleration. Range is 165 miles, according to the company — about double that of the previous 500e and far easier to live with.
And its 85-kW fast-charging system can recharge to 80% of its range in 35 minutes, with 25 miles available in 5 minutes, according to Fiat. Bravo!
A trouble history
Fiat has had a long, troubled relationship with the U.S. market.
Fiat established its first foreign factory in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. in 1909, selling the four models, one exclusive to the American market. Despite its success, the company withdrew in 1917 as Americas entered into World War I.
Fiat’s Poughkeepsie, N.Y. factory, which opened in 1909.
Fiat did not make a concerted effort at re-entering the American market until 1957, as imports became an ever-growing presence in the wake of the Volkswagen Beetle’s success. Whatever sales the company enjoyed dissipated by the late 1970s, having earned a reputation for poor quality. In 1986, Fiat withdrew from the American market once again.
Fiat wouldn’t even register on America’s consciousness until 2009, acquiring 20% of Chrysler Corp. after Chrysler declared bankruptcy that same year. Within two years, the Italian brand’s merged with a post-bankruptcy Chrysler, becoming known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The late Sergio Marchione, then Fiat Chrysler’s CEO, had an optimistic goal of selling 78,000 Fiats in the States by 2013. But demand never came close, topping out at 46,121 in 2014.
Hope springs eternal
The 500, long an icon of the Fiat brand, was its first salvo as the company looked to mimic BMW Group’s success at launching the Mini Cooper. But the 500 and 500e saw only marginal success when introduced in the U.S. in 2011.
At the time, the Fiat 500e is the only EV is the only pure battery electric vehicle in FCA’s line-up, a “compliance car,” marketed solely to satisfy California and Oregon regulators, without truly meeting consumer needs, as it travelled a mere 87 miles on a charge. It suffered from what many initial modern EVs, such as the Ford Focus Electric, and Volkwagen e-Golf suffered from: limited range, long charging times and high prices.
Fiat 600e
Even with the addition of two crossovers, the 500L and 500X failed to boost sales, which totaled a meager 9,200 in the U.S. in 2019, the year the 500 and 500e were dropped from American Fiat showrooms as the model no longer found a niche in FCA’s truck and SUV heavy U.S. market line-up.
While the return of the 500e is a hopeful sign, one wonders of Fiat’s heart is in it. This week, the automaker introduced the new Fiat 600e, a five-door, five-seat EV to be sold solely in Europe alongside the combustion-engine-powered 500X. There are no plans to bring it stateside.
Yet the 500X is due to end production in 2026, and with few indications that Fiat is adding models to its U.S. showrooms, it remains to be seen if any American marketing effort is worth the expense.