Fiat Will Not Sell the 500e in Europe

According to khabar khodro Fiat global brand boss Olivier Francois announced that Fiat does not plan to sell 500e electric car in the European market.

Fiat will introduce the 500e in California in the second quarter of 2013, and then in other US states which mandate sales of zero emission vehicles. The 500e is a battery-powered version of the 500 minicar, being able of reaching 100 miles (160 km). The model’s price begins at $35,000. Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that Chrisler will lose between $8,000 and $10,000 for every 500e sold.

Chrysler decided to launch the 500e to meet regulatory demands in some U.S. states to mandate sales of zero emission vehicles. Other automakers which launch EVs for the US market are Toyota with its battery powered variant of its iQ minicar, which was unveiled at the Paris auto show two months ago, and which is already on sales in California, and GM which will offer a battery powered version of the Chevrolet Spark, to be unveiled on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The automakers plan to boost sales of EVs in the US, which seem to attract little customers. During the first nine months of the year, 26,000 EVs were sold in the US from the total of 11.9 million vehicles sold.