If Fiat had equivalent EVs model waiting in the wings as a deliverable solution to appease some of these clients, that would make some sense, but choosing to withdraw all petrol and diesel models years ahead of them being outlawed ahead of the new 2030 ‘no sale of any new ICE cars’ legislation seems like a suicidal decision to me! The only non-ICE electric model Fiat can currently offer in the UK is the very capable but not for everyone 500 E La Prima, one of the best small city EVs on the market, but hardly offering the mountain goat, go-anywhere ability of a new Panda 4x4, or the space and practicality of a Tipo Station Wagon, 500L or Doblo.
So, after being present in the UK market for almost 125 years, Fiat is one of the first car makers to withdraw all of its petrol and diesel models from the UK’s new car market ahead of the pending 2030 ban (if it actually happens). In the UK since its founding in 1899, over the decades Fiat has been a major force on British roads, dominating the London taxi scene in the pioneering days of motoring, often being the UK’s top-positioned imported vehicle maker and taking up to an eight per cent market share of the total UK new car makers in its heyday, with such landmark models as the 127, 128 and 124 showing the British motor industry how to produce exceptional cars that the public wanted to buy (even if they weren’t very well rust proofed back then). Today Fiat has a paltry UK market share of only around 1.7 per cent, with more than 80 per cent of its British sales wearing a 500 badge, including the larger X and L derivatives.