Fiat is embracing its colorful Italian heritage, announcing this week that it will no longer offer cars in gray.
Starting with its new all-electric 600e SUV, Fiat says it will end production of gray exterior finishes and instead focus on colors inspired by nature – namely “sea, sun, earth and sky”. Italians”.
“Italy is indeed linked with bright colors such as the sea of Italy, the sun of Italy, the earth of Italy and the sky of Italy; landscapes that inspire Fiat a lot for its cars,” the company says in its press release.
“The strategy is being implemented to add a distinctive feature to Fiat’s cars in the automotive market, as 2023 is the year of remarkable change for the brand.”
The decision comes despite gray vehicles accounting for more than one in four new vehicles sold in the UK, according to official figures from the country’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Current colors in the range which are in line with the brand’s new ‘Brand of Colours’ philosophy include: Gelato white, Sicilia orange, Paprika orange, Passione red, Blu Dipinto di Blu, Italia blue, Venezia blue, Rugiada green, Foresta green, Rose gold and Cinema black.
“We broke the rules: we decided to stop production of gray Fiat cars. It’s empowering and disruptive and it aims to further reinforce Fiat’s leadership as a brand of joy, color and optimism. Italy is the land of colors and, from today, Fiat cars too,” said Fiat CEO Olivier François, also featured in the video above.
As it was unveiled earlier this month, the Fiat 600e 2024 will be presented and detailed to the public on 4th July.
The Fiat 600e is the all-electric replacement for the aging 500X crossover and is said to be based on the same Stellantis CMP/e-CMP platform that underpins the 2008 Jeep Avenger and Peugeot e-models.
Power is expected to come from a 115kW/260Nm front-mounted electric motor coupled to a 54kWh lithium-ion nickel manganese cobalt battery to provide a range of about 400km per load.
Gasoline and hybrid powertrains are also supported by the CMP/e-CMP architecture and can be introduced in key markets – the Avenger, for example, only offers a gasoline engine in a handful of European markets like Spain.
Stay tuned CarExpert for our coverage of the Fiat 600e’s official July 4 debut.
