April 15, 2020 - The Fiat brand marked its entry into the world of electrification this year with the launch of mild-hybrid versions of its two best-selling nameplates, the 500 and Panda, in January followed by the world debut of the all-new Fiat 500 full-electric in March.
“Our strategy is very simple. Today, the market for electrified vehicles is truly beginning to grow,” commented Luca Napolitano, Head of Fiat and Abarth Brands EMEA. “In Europe, sales passed the one-million-unit mark for the first time in 2019, so the moment is now right for us to get into the game. And we have a very clear objective: to become the market leader. To do this, we have chosen to begin by focusing on the city-car segment, where we have a consolidated leadership position in Italy and across Europe, with sales of more than 375,000 cars a year. We also account for the largest number of cars on the road in this segment and have the highest levels of customer loyalty. And we decided to launch the 500 and the Panda together because we want to offer electrified vehicles that cover the entire city-car market.” Together, these two complementary models respond to all of our customers’ needs: style, compactness and handling for the 500, and functionality, versatility and interior space for the Panda.
Each of these perennially popular city cars is distinctive in its own way but they both have the same objective: to make hybrid vehicles accessible to everyone and make Fiat the European benchmark in electric urban mobility.
The new Fiat 500 and Panda hybrids offer all the benefits of an efficient, compact, lightweight and affordable hybrid powertrain and are, in short, the best solution for a city car. They are ideal ambassadors for Fiat, a brand that over its 120-year history has consistently been an innovator in mobility solutions, and is now taking sustainable mobility to the next level. This alone would be enough to make history, but these two models are also debuting the one-liter, three-cylinder gasoline Firefly engine, developed specifically for the 500 and Panda. In the mild-hybrid configuration, the Firefly is paired with a 12-volt, belt-integrated starter generator (BSG) electric motor, to generate 70 horsepower, and a compact 11 Ah lithium-ion battery.