The Fiat Panda factory. That is where it is happening. Stellantis is turning this Italian site into the heartbeat of affordable electric cars. You won’t see the first ones roll out until 2028 though. A long wait for a cheap car, sure, but better than never.
They want to hit a €15,000 price point. Not €18,000. Not $15,000 (which converts to slightly less than that in Europe anyway, but the sentiment holds). Fifteen thousand Euros. Zero emissions. Accessible. The project has a name: E-Car. It sounds generic, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s the point.
Pomigliano d’Arco. This plant in Naples currently churns out Alfa Romeo Tonales and Pandas. Soon, it will produce these sub-4.2-meter EVs for multiple brands.
Who first? Fiat and Citroën. Obviously. Fiat has a history here, going back to the Topolino in 1936. This will likely be the spiritual successor to the 500 launched in 2021 (the article mentions 2020 launch date for the project context, but the car arrived in 21… let’s stick to the text’s implied timeline: the project builds on that momentum).
Citroën is dreaming big. They want to bring back the soul of the 2CV. Pierre Leclercq, head of design, said it clearly last year: if any brand can make an essential, smaller, cheaper car work, it is Citroën. “That is quite obvious.”
Obvious to whom?
Stellantis thinks other brands might join in too. Leapmotor has a cheap car (the T03, priced around £14,000 in the UK). They own a chunk of that company. It makes sense they would lend their cheap-tech skills here. Peugeot might join in too. We do not know for sure.
Antonio Filosa, the CEO, sees this as a revival of European DNA. “Customers are calling for small, stylish vehicles… proud production in Europe… affordable and environmentally friendly.” He sounds optimistic. He has to be.
“Cars below 15,0 Stellantis Euros, they don’t exist.”
Filosa says this at a financial summit. He is not joking. European car sales dropped to 13.2 million units last year. Below pre-pandemic levels. Stagnant. Sad.
He wants regulators to help. Specifically, a new rule called M1E. It would treat these cheap e-cars differently. Maybe give them subsidies for batteries? “Super credits” to help manufacturers meet CO2 targets without selling a million Teslas? It sounds like a lifeline.
But the regulation is still moving through the Commission. Slow. Very slow.
Then there are vans. Light Commercial Vehicles. LCVs. Nobody buys them. Filosa blames regulation. Safety laws made them pricier. Electric mandates pushed the price up further while demand was only at 10 percent. It is a mismatch. A painful one for small businesses who need cheap tools to survive.
“Everyone loses out by the LCV park not being renewed.”
Maintenance costs rise for small shops. Deliveries break down. Industry misses sales. It is a three-way loss.
Filosa took over a year ago. May 21 is the big reveal day. The strategy launch. Stellantis has had a rough time. Too many unsold US SUVs. Massive write-offs on EV investments that didn’t take off. Premium brands like Maserati and DS are bleeding sales. Software bugs have slowed down new Citroe ns and Fiats in Europe.
Is he quitting EVs?
No. Not at all. “We will keep investing in electric cars.” Jeep Recon is coming. Range-extenders for big trucks too. He listens to the market. Europe wants electric. America wants hybrids. He plans to give them both.
His turnaround plan has four pillars.
- Scale. Six million cars a year. Enough volume to spread the cost of technology.
- Regional Strength. Number 1 in South America. Number 2 in Europe. Number 5 in North America. They are everywhere, mostly.
- Partnerships. Lean on Leapmotor. Use the Spanish plants. Do not reinvent the wheel.
- Brands. Keep them alive. This is the tricky part.
Does he plan to kill off brands? Lancia is quiet. Fiat needs new models. Vauxhall feels disconnected from drivers.
Filosa says no drastic cuts. “A brand stays because a customer wants it.” He argues against selecting only “one, two, three” brands to save. The secret? Capital allocation. Strategy per brand. He won’t tell you how until nine days from now.
So wait.
For the car.
For the regulation.
For the strategy reveal.
Will €15,000 really buy you freedom? Or is it just a political promise?
