Good News: The Fiat 500L Is Back in Production

Fiat Chrysler’s Serbian assembly plant was the first European auto factory to shut down as a result of the growing coronavirus pandemic — a grim harbinger of things to come, and not just for Europe.

That temporary February shutdown stemmed from a parts shortage arising from the hard-hit Chinese manufacturing sector. A far more prolonged shutdown came in mid-March, for obvious reasons. Well, that’s all over, as a crucially important product is now back in production, ready to satiate the hunger of the American buying public.

Yes, as of Tuesday the Fiat 500L is again being assembled by the workers in Kragujevac, Reuters reports.

Obviously, it’s good news for the Serbian economy, though the plant’s reopening will do little to boost any fortunes on this side of the Atlantic. Certainly not Fiat Chrysler’s. The odd-duck 500L remains the weakest product sold by an afterthought brand that could dry up and blow away in the wind at any moment.

Fiat Chrysler really doesn’t like talking about Fiat’s potentially nonexistent future on these shores, yet the brand still manages to collect some buyers each month. Ever fewer buyers, but buyers just the same. In the second quarter of 2020, the 500L somehow amassed 124 sales in the U.S., bringing the model’s year-to-date total to 254 units — a 36-percent decline from 2019.

North of the border, in the semi-mythical land of Canadia, a grand total of three people drove home in a shiny new 500L in Q2 2020. Clearly, fear of the virus and various lockdown measures played a role, as Q1 saw five people do exactly this. The country’s first-half sales of eight 500Ls was in stark contrast to the 10 sales seen through June 2019.

How small a brand is Fiat these days? In the U.S., more people bought an Alfa Romeo Giulia in Q2 than they bought Fiats of any description, and the Giulia is not even Alfa’s top-selling model in that market.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler]