The Fiat 500X Will Be Lucky if It Sells 500 Units This Year
Fiat’s re-introduction to the U.S. automotive market in 2011 was met with an advertising barrage announcing a new era of Italian “immigrants” washing up on American shores. However, just 13 years later, Fiat has just one model remaining on sale stateside: the 500X. The subcompact SUV is bigger all-around than the standard 500 that has already bid arrivederci to the U.S., but that certainly hasn’t helped its popularity. Neither has a stagnant marketing effort from the brand. In fact, Fiat may consider itself fortunate if it sells 500 units of the 500X this year.
The Fiat 500X is circling the drain
According to sales stats from GoodCarBadCar, the Fiat 500X is struggling to attract many buyers. Fiat’s parent company, Stellantis, only reports sales on a quarterly basis, so figures have only been released through June. Still, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Fiat’s sole remaining model on sale in the U.S.
The 500X sold between 43 and 48 units per month through June for a total of 277 models moved halfway through 2023. For comparison, Chevrolet sold more of its Spark subcompact hatchback, which was discontinued after the 2022 model year, through the first three months of the year.
Sales of Fiat’s larger 500 have been on a rapid decline since a record 12,599 were sold in 2016. Just 463 were sold in all of 2022 in the U.S.
The Fiat 500X’s sales demise continues the rapid downward trajectory of Fiat’s overall sales in the U.S. The automaker moved a record 46,118 units in 2014, but from 2019 to 2022, sales fell from 9,204 units to just 919 as Fiat pulled more models from the U.S. market.
The 500X is also sold in Canada, but its sales figures north of the border aren’t anything to write home about either. Over 850 500X units were sold in 2017, but the bottom dropped out, and less than 200 models were sold over the next four years.
The 500X could be the next Fiat to leave the U.S. market
Fiat never gained the popularity or presence it aimed to achieve when it announced it would re-enter the U.S. market nearly 15 years ago. As such, the 500X is hardly the brand’s only model that has struggled to attract American buyers. The only difference is that the 500X can still be purchased, unlike many of the other brand’s model sales flops.
The 500 is the model all enthusiasts associate with the Fiat brand, but the tiny city car was pulled from the proverbial American shelves in 2019. The 500L, a four-door wagon/hatch, was cut from the U.S. market a year later. That same year, Fiat announced it was killing off the 124 Spider — which shared some underpinnings with the venerable Mazda MX-5 — after the 2021 model year.
Fiat’s U.S. presence now rests with the arrival of the new 500e
With the 500X struggling mightily, Fiat’s presence in the U.S. market is likely dependent on the success of the 500, or at least an electrified version of it, returning to the U.S. From its parent company of Stellantis, the Italian automaker announced late last year that the 500e, an EV version of the city car, would be available for U.S. buyers in early 2024.
Meanwhile, the automaker is betting its U.S. hopes on new leadership. In May, Fiat announced Aamir Ahmed will lead a hopeful resurgence of the brand stateside as the head of the brand in North America.
It remains to be seen if Fiat’s new North American leadership and the arrival of the 500e to the market will change its fortunes in the U.S., but if the brand hopes to stay here, it will need these latest ventures to pan out well.
