- The news comes just a week after Italian authorities seized over 100 Topolinos affixed with small Italian flags.
- Stellantis plans to increase annual Italian production to 1 million units by 2030.
- The hybrid Fiat 500 could launch in the first quarter of 2026.
Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares has announced Fiat will build a hybrid version of the 500 at the company’s Mirafiori factory in Italy. The decision comes after months of squabbling between the carmaker and local union representatives who have pushed the carmaker to increase production in the country.
Fiat’s Mirafiori plant already handles production of the all-electric 500e but a slowdown in the sales growth of EVs has forced the carmaker to slow production rates. It’s also had to introduce protracted furlough periods for workers at the site.
Read: Police Seize Fiat EVs Over Italian Flag As Stellantis-Government Row Grows
The announcement may also help to ease simmering tensions between Stellantis and the Italian government. Last week, Italian authorities seized 134 Fiat Topolinos at the port of Livorno because they featured a small Italian flag on the bodywork, despite the tiny EV being manufactured in Morocco. This incident came just a few weeks after Alfa Romeo changed the name of its new SUV from Milano to Junior due to a dispute with Italian government officials.
Stellantis has also revealed it will start to build a hybrid version of the Jeep Compass at its Melfi plant in Italy.
“Those announcements complement the recent ones made for a new generation of battery to make the Iconic Fiat 500e even more appealing to customers and the industrial extension of the Fiat Panda hybrid in Pomigliano,” the company said in a statement. “The supply of those new hybrid models will contribute positively to the workload of Termoli plant and Mirafiori e-DCT transmissions plants for the coming years.”
Stellantis intends to increase production in Italy to 1 million units annually by 2030. It added it is starting a generational renewal of its workforce, starting with the hiring of young workers at the Mirafiori site.
Speaking with Reuters, FIM-Cisl union leader Ferdinando Uliano said Tavares had told him production of the hybrid 500 would start in the first quarter of 2026.
