Out-of-touch politicians are putting the brakes on small, affordable, ‘no frills’ petrol cars loved by consumers, says the boss of Fiat.
But that won’t stop the Italian firm producing them – as exciting models in the pipeline prove.
Such was the message from Olivier Francois, CEO of Fiat and Abarth, when I interviewed him at the impressive Brussels Motor Show, which ends tomorrow.
He was speaking as Fiat launched a new petrol-electric hybrid version of its Fiat 500 supermini – created because customer demand for the pure electric 500e model just isn’t strong enough, said Francois, also noting that the new hybrid will account for 70 per cent of sales.
The 65hp Fiat 500 Hybrid blends a one-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine with a 12V lithium-ion battery, linked to a six-speed manual gearbox, and will arrive in the UK from late spring, priced from around £19,000.
Francois told me that Fiat (and, I understand, Citroen) is also working on a no-frills city car that would be ‘small, affordable, simple and multi-engined’, costing under £15,000 and on the road by 2030.
Small but mighty: The 65hp Fiat 500 Hybrid arrives in the UK soon
As a cost-effective solution to unrealistic EU rules, he would be happy to limit the top speed of his city cars to 73mph to avoid driver-safety tech designed for larger, faster and more expensive cars.
‘These cars are small, democratic and inexpensive – bought by younger people for the daily commute in a city,’ Francois said.
‘We need to get back to basics with no frills. We shouldn’t be forced to overload small cars with expensive hardware that customers don’t want or need.’
Politicians in the EU and UK are also setting unachievable targets for the proportion of EV cars which must be sold each year, Francois believes.
‘They have put idealism before pragmatism,’ he said, explaining that while electric cars are ‘great’, ‘people can’t afford them without discount incentives’.
Also displayed by Fiat at the show was the new QUBO L ‘people mover’, available as a five or seven-seater in diesel, petrol or electric, expected in the UK from under £25,000 in the autumn.
Fiat are also bringing a turbo-charged, 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol version of the new Grande Panda with a manual gearbox, as a cheaper alternative to the hybrid and electric versions arriving from March from £18,995.
An SUV-crossover and a fastback version are to follow. A manual petrol version of the Fiat 600 crossover is also due.
With 67 brands – including Kia, Ford, a host of Chinese marques plus 28 bike-makers – the Brussels Motor Show (autosalon.be) is looking a worthy successor to the Geneva Motor Show, which ceased after the pandemic.
