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LOL no. The brand in practice doesn't exist anymore, it has been merged. The most important thing about the guy: he didn't like electric cars. Such a small ma

LOL no. The brand in practice doesn't exist anymore, it has been merged. The most important thing about the guy: he didn't like electric cars. Such a small man. Sorry for the italian page: https://www.panorama.it/economia/panda-punto-bravo-modelli-flop-marchionne https://www.panorama.it/economia/panda-punto-bravo-modelli-f...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ponector 3y ago
That journalist grieves for discontinued Multipla, which is the ugliest car ever. Also push back to the electric cars back then was a good strategy. Fiat was always a cheap cars brand, none will go and buy expensive electric Fiat. Looks like FT is right about him, his business decisions were right.
- _giorgio_ 3y ago
  He made a lot of mistakes, he was not a car guy. Look at cheap electric chinese cars. Tech is old and perfect for Italy. He simply didn't understand the technology. He was a backward guy who only knew merges and finance. If you run a car company, you need to understand the product. You can't survive long without that.
  - ponector 3y ago
    Chinese electric cars are cheap because they are subsidized. You should really compare with other European car manufacturers. I'm not a fan of Fiat, but if they did huge investments into electric 10+ years ago that possibly could bankrupt the company. Market is not ready even now for going all electric.
    - willcipriano 3y ago
      > Chinese electric cars are cheap because they are subsidized. So are cars in the US. Why are they so expensive here?
  - margorczynski 3y ago
    From what I'm seeing the EV sales (or the lack of thereof) are a drain for all the other companies like BMW, Ford, Mercedes, etc. so not sure how having an EV would help them out?
- rsynnott 3y ago
  The second-gen Multipla was a lot more normal-looking than the original. > Fiat was always a cheap cars brand, none will go and buy expensive electric Fiat. In Ireland, the Fiat 500e is 24k EUR; I'm pretty sure it's their second-cheapest car, after the ordinary Fiat 500, which is about 20k. Anecdotally, I see a good few Fiat 500es around; it seems to be one of the more popular small (A-segment) electric cars. I suspect that had an earlier version existed 10 years ago, it would've done pretty well in a market then dominated by the Nissan Leaf.
  - uxp100 3y ago
    An earlier version did exist 10 years ago.
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      ... Huh. So it did. Don't remember seeing any; it was mostly Leafs (Leaves?) back then. Maybe they never did a rhd version or something. EDIT: Ah, okay, it wasn't a real production car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_(2007)#Availability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_(2007)#Availability - only sold in two US states and not at all in Europe.
jillesvangurp 3y ago
Stellantis, which is the result of lots of mergers that include Fiat, now makes quite a few successful electrical cars. Including some low end cheap ones around 20K euro. And a few city cars priced even cheaper than that. So, they are a bit ahead of other manufacturers that are looking to catch up in the next few years to where Stellantis is right now. This CEO was involved with the acquisition of Chrysler after they went bankrupt. That combination is generally considered successful and it was a major coup for Fiat which until then had no real presence in the US. Stellantis which they are now a part of seems to do well lately; including in the US where they have a few iconic brands. Stellantis market share grew quite a bit last year. And they are launching lots of EVs for the different brands in their company this year targeting markets all over the world. Fiat as a brand still exists and Stellantis still has production and R&D in Italy. Though they did announce some layoffs in Italy recently.
- _giorgio_ 3y ago
  Do you understand that a tsla in California is priced as much as a fiat 500 electric in Italy? That's crazy. I mean, the fiat 500 has an engineering significance that it 1/100 of any tesla.
  - jillesvangurp 3y ago
    The Fiat is desirable from a design point of view. I think prices are around the 30K mark in Europe. So a bit cheaper than a Tesla. I've no idea what the Californian market is for these things. Teslas are nice in other ways but they aren't that special from a design point of view. It's a bit of a bland, inoffensive and generic look. Stellantis has other cars based on the same tech and platform that are even more affordable. The new Citroen e-C3 starts around 20K euros. That's one of the more basic Stellantis offerings. Well below what Tesla is planning/rumored to launch next year or so. I doubt they will sell that in the US. And import tariffs keep a lot of otherwise fine cars off the market there.
- datavirtue 3y ago
  I was not expecting the design of the new Charger EV to be so inspired. My head hasn't been turned by a car since the 2014 Chevy Impala. This new Charger is an order of magnitude beyond that.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ponector 3y ago

That journalist grieves for discontinued Multipla, which is the ugliest car ever. Also push back to the electric cars back then was a good strategy. Fiat was always a cheap cars brand, none will go and buy expensive electric Fiat. Looks like FT is right about him, his business decisions were right.

_giorgio_ 3y ago
He made a lot of mistakes, he was not a car guy. Look at cheap electric chinese cars. Tech is old and perfect for Italy. He simply didn't understand the technology. He was a backward guy who only knew merges and finance. If you run a car company, you need to understand the product. You can't survive long without that.
- ponector 3y ago
  Chinese electric cars are cheap because they are subsidized. You should really compare with other European car manufacturers. I'm not a fan of Fiat, but if they did huge investments into electric 10+ years ago that possibly could bankrupt the company. Market is not ready even now for going all electric.
  - willcipriano 3y ago
    > Chinese electric cars are cheap because they are subsidized. So are cars in the US. Why are they so expensive here?
- margorczynski 3y ago
  From what I'm seeing the EV sales (or the lack of thereof) are a drain for all the other companies like BMW, Ford, Mercedes, etc. so not sure how having an EV would help them out?
rsynnott 3y ago
The second-gen Multipla was a lot more normal-looking than the original. > Fiat was always a cheap cars brand, none will go and buy expensive electric Fiat. In Ireland, the Fiat 500e is 24k EUR; I'm pretty sure it's their second-cheapest car, after the ordinary Fiat 500, which is about 20k. Anecdotally, I see a good few Fiat 500es around; it seems to be one of the more popular small (A-segment) electric cars. I suspect that had an earlier version existed 10 years ago, it would've done pretty well in a market then dominated by the Nissan Leaf.
- uxp100 3y ago
  An earlier version did exist 10 years ago.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    ... Huh. So it did. Don't remember seeing any; it was mostly Leafs (Leaves?) back then. Maybe they never did a rhd version or something. EDIT: Ah, okay, it wasn't a real production car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_(2007)#Availability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_(2007)#Availability - only sold in two US states and not at all in Europe.

jillesvangurp 3y ago

Stellantis, which is the result of lots of mergers that include Fiat, now makes quite a few successful electrical cars. Including some low end cheap ones around 20K euro. And a few city cars priced even cheaper than that. So, they are a bit ahead of other manufacturers that are looking to catch up in the next few years to where Stellantis is right now. This CEO was involved with the acquisition of Chrysler after they went bankrupt. That combination is generally considered successful and it was a major coup for Fiat which until then had no real presence in the US. Stellantis which they are now a part of seems to do well lately; including in the US where they have a few iconic brands. Stellantis market share grew quite a bit last year. And they are launching lots of EVs for the different brands in their company this year targeting markets all over the world. Fiat as a brand still exists and Stellantis still has production and R&D in Italy. Though they did announce some layoffs in Italy recently.

_giorgio_ 3y ago
Do you understand that a tsla in California is priced as much as a fiat 500 electric in Italy? That's crazy. I mean, the fiat 500 has an engineering significance that it 1/100 of any tesla.
- jillesvangurp 3y ago
  The Fiat is desirable from a design point of view. I think prices are around the 30K mark in Europe. So a bit cheaper than a Tesla. I've no idea what the Californian market is for these things. Teslas are nice in other ways but they aren't that special from a design point of view. It's a bit of a bland, inoffensive and generic look. Stellantis has other cars based on the same tech and platform that are even more affordable. The new Citroen e-C3 starts around 20K euros. That's one of the more basic Stellantis offerings. Well below what Tesla is planning/rumored to launch next year or so. I doubt they will sell that in the US. And import tariffs keep a lot of otherwise fine cars off the market there.
datavirtue 3y ago
I was not expecting the design of the new Charger EV to be so inspired. My head hasn't been turned by a car since the 2014 Chevy Impala. This new Charger is an order of magnitude beyond that.