- Italian authorities seized 134 Fiat Topolino electric vehicles at the port of Livorno due to small Italian flag stickers on the cars.
- Prosecutors claim the flags mislead customers as the car is actually made in Morocco, alongside Citroen Ami and Opel Rocks Electric.
- The seized vehicles remain at the port, and it’s unclear if Stellantis will face legal consequences for the flag stickers.
Italian authorities impounded 134 units of the Fiat Topolino at the port of Livorno due to a small sticker featuring the Mediterranean country’s flag on the bodywork of the tiny electric vehicle. According to the prosecutor, the tricolor flag could mislead consumers regarding the product’s origin, as it is manufactured in Morocco.
According to Article 4, paragraph 49, of Italy’s Financial Law of 2004, exporting or importing “products bearing false and misleading indications of provenance or origin” is considered a crime, as stipulated by Article 517 of the penal code. Interestingly, the “Made in Italy law” hasn’t been applied to other imported products of Stellantis, such as the Fiat 500, which displayed the Italian flag in the past despite being produced in Poland.
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A Stellantis spokesman confirmed the seizure but denied any wrongdoing, stating that Fiat had clearly indicated that the Topolino is built in Morocco. According to the automaker, the small Italian flag on the EV’s fenders was intended solely to indicate the entrepreneurial origin of the product, signifying that it was designed by the Fiat Centro Stile in Turin. Nevertheless, Stellantis agreed to remove the stickers with the Italian flag to resolve the issue.
Following their seizure by the Guardia di Finanza and Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency, the 134 EVs remain in storage at the port pending the prosecutor’s release order. It is unclear whether Stellantis will face any legal repercussions regarding the matter.
The Fiat Topolino is a tiny EV closely related to the Citroen Ami and the Opel Rocks Electric heavy quadricycles. It shares the same underpinnings with the other two Stellantis models and is produced at the same facility in Morocco. However, it boasts a more retro styling approach, reminiscent of the original Topolino from the 1930s.
It seems like the Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has intensified its scrutiny of Stellantis, possibly in response to the carmaker producing Italian models outside of the country. Just last month, Alfa Romeo was compelled to rename their new small SUV to Junior (originally called Milano) because it wasn’t manufactured in Milan. In both instances, Stellantis promptly complied with the government’s directives in an effort to alleviate tensions.
