Automotive conglomerate Stellantis is in something of a recovery period, having suffered a downturn in popularity since it was formed off the back of Fiat-Chrysler and the PSA Group merging in 2021.
A drop in market share across all major regions, an increase in prices and a trimming of its model lineup has led to the drop in sales, but an unexpected car could see its fortunes turned around.
In July, Fiat announced it was bringing back petrol power to the 500 city car, having recently dumped engines for its popular model to go electric-only as the 500e.
This led to a significant drop in sales, as the EV market also suffered a cooling off period, though the return of petrol power and a six-speed manual transmission is reportedly a key pillar to Stellantis’ rebuild phase.
According to Automotive News, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa recently spoke to analysts about the carmaker’s sales and financial performance, and tipped the Fiat 500 to drive an uptick all-round.
Filosa reportedly says the petrol-powered 500 is expected to produce robust sales, though largely in Italy where demand for a more affordable city car has been high after the loss of the previous-generation 500 last year.
The executive also reportedly added the 500 manual is more profitable than the 500e, with this combination of higher profits and greater sales the main pillar of Stallantis’ recovery.
Stellantis has previously announced it will add another 400 staff members to the production facility where the petrol 500 will be built from November.
In addition to the 500, Filosa reportedly wants a “quicker ramp-up” of small cars in the wider carmaker, such as the – Citroen C3 and C3 Aircross, Fiat Grande Panda and Opel Frontera, all of which are based on the group’s Smart Car underpinnings.
Recently, Stellantis has been making a number of bold decisions under the relatively fresh leadership of Filosa, such as extending the production run for the current Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio – plus bringing back the performance Quadrifoglio trim – and reviving the Hemi V8 engine across the bulk of its US brand lineup.
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