Visually, the new 500 Hybrid looks identical to the electric 500e except for a reworked front grille to feed more air to a petrol engine.
It also adopts the 500e’s interior, which includes Stellantis’s 10.25in touchscreen. Alongside this, the dashboard features a larger and squarer new storage cubby and the gearlever is elevated alongside the steering wheel – as in the old petrol 500.
The arrival of the new hybrid model also means production moves from Tychy, Poland, to Mirafiori, Italy – where the 500e is built. It is understood that this will help increase production rates at the Italian factory amid slow sales of the 500e and its Abarth 500e hot hatch sibling, which led Fiat to pause lines on several occasions last year.
Speaking previously, Fiat CEO Olivier François acknowledged the challenges, saying that the 500 Hybrid will boost production at Mirafiori “to ensure the plant’s productivity”.
He added that launching a new combustion-engined 500 in response to flagging sales of the EV serves as “proof that social relevance is at the core of the brand mission”.
Production of European-spec 500 Hybrids began last week. Right-hand-drive models are due to start production from April. Fiat predicts more than 100,000 examples will roll off production lines each year.
