Demand for the Fiat 500e electric hatchback in 2023 was lower than expected, but perhaps it will be stabilized by the model's imminent entry into the North American market .
The Mirafiori plant, located in the eponymous district of Turin, was launched in 1939, today it produces the Fiat 500e electric hatchbacks and most of the Maserati range (Levante crossover, Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans, sports cars GranTurismo of the new generation), one of the research and development centers of the Stellantis corporation is also located here and an innovative “green campus” for young engineers is being built — it is planned to be commissioned in 2025.
Mirafiori plant in Turin 1/5 
Mirafiori plant in Turin 2/5 
Mirafiori plant in Turin 3/5 
Mirafiori plant in Turin 4/5 
Mirafiori plant in Turin 5/5
Last fall, the plant management was forced to temporarily lay off workers due to insufficiently high demand for the Fiat 500e; another layoff, as reported by Automotive News Europe, is scheduled for the period from February 12 to March 3, it will affect 1,250 workers employed in production Fiat 500e, and 1000 workers producing Maserati models. This state of affairs greatly upsets the union, but its leaders hope for a new program to stimulate demand for electric vehicles from the Italian government (its budget will be about a billion euros) and the speedy entry of the Fiat 500e into the North American market. In 2023, according to Automotive News Europe, the Mirafiori plant produced 77,000 Fiat 500e units instead of the planned 90,000.
Fiat 500e
Sales of the Fiat 500e in the United States will begin in the first quarter of this year, its minimum price here will be $34,095 including delivery — this is, to put it mildly, expensive given the modest size of the car and the small power reserve on a single charge (240 km on the EPA cycle). Fiat has been trying to gain a foothold in America for several years, but so far has been unsuccessful: last year, the Italian brand sold only 605 cars in the United States (mostly 500X crossovers), which is 34% less than sales in 2022. It is unlikely that the Fiat 500e alone can straighten the sales curve; for this, more new models are needed. The current cap is likely on par with the Mini brand, which had 33,497 U.S. sales last year (+13.5% over 2022 sales).
Fiat 500e
We add that many traditional large automakers today are faced with a slowdown in the growth of demand for electric vehicles: in the USA, for example, even this seemingly unconditional a hit like the Ford F-150 Lightning suddenly lost popularity, and in Europe Volkswagen entered crisis mode — mass layoffs awaited its employees.
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