According to April 2024 sales data in France, the Fiat 500e is enjoying considerable success, with figures well above expectations. To put it into perspective, the small Italian city car is selling more than Tesla. In total, according to autoactu, the small Italian city car has registered 8,284 units sold in the first four months of the new year, placing it second overall behind the Peugeot e-208, the bestseller of the French green market with 13,262 registrations. Third place goes to the Tesla Model Y, at around 300 registrations behind the 500e, with 7,941.
Fiat 500e outsells Tesla in France in April 2024
Stellantis is ready to work on a new Fiat 500e with more autonomy and affordability, but group representatives have repeatedly stressed that the model’s poor sales are linked to the lack of incentives in Italy, the 500e’s home market. Considering that France has introduced an interesting social leasing system this year that allows low-income people to purchase an electric car, paying a small monthly installment in return that includes everything.
In Italy, on the other hand, the 2024 incentives should only arrive in May, but it cannot be ruled out that they may be postponed to the beginning of June. Beyond the United Kingdom, where the market share of zero-emission vehicles is good even without any economic government aid, in other countries sales would seem to be linked to the eco-bonus, starting with France.
Electric car growth in France in April 2024 was 45% year-on-year, with a total of 24,850 electric cars registered, for a 16.9% share of the total. The big winner so far is the Peugeot e-208, which placed 3,185 units on the market last month, an increase of 104% compared to 2023. In second place was the Peugeot 2008, with 2,164 cars sold, while in third place was the Twingo with 1,842 units ahead of the 500e with 1,765 units sold. Fifth place went to the Megane with 1,634, with the Model Y outside the Top 5 with 1,437 cars.
Despite this, Stellantis has halted production of the 500e at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, due to weak global demand for the city car.