Fiat launches new hybrid model in latest bid to drive up car sales amid demand slump

Fiat launches new hybrid model in latest bid to drive up car sales amid demand slump

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GB NEWS
Hemma Visavadia

By Hemma Visavadia


Published: 06/03/2024

- 16:09

Updated: 07/03/2024

- 15:52

The new hybrid vehicle will retail from £23,965

Fiat has launches its new hybrid model as it tries to encourage more people to make the switch to electric.

The 600 Hybrid has starting prices of £23,965, with orders at retailers set to begin in the summer later this year.


The new hybrid has a 100 horsepower 48V Hybrid powertrain and a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The hybrid vehicle has an electric motor within the gearbox, boasts electric capabilities and includes 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels.

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Image of Fiat 600 Hybrid

Fiat has pledged to go fully electric by 2030

STELLANTIS

It is available in red, white, black and undertones of sea, earth, sky and sun of Italy.

The interior features black and ivory bi-colour fabric seats, with the driver and passenger benefitting from heated seats.

The vehicle comes around the same time as the company has called in the Government to do more to support manufacturers as they try to help drivers switch to electric.

The company pledged to commit to going fully electric by 2030 but said it needed the Government to do its part also.

Fiat, which is based in Turin, had recently called on the Government to bring back the electric vehicle grant which acted as an incentive for drivers to purchase an EV.

However, since the Government removed financial incentives designed to encourage retail customers to go electric, Fiat introduced its own grant which gave customers a £3,000 discount for switching to electric.

Damien Dally, Fiat, UK managing director, said: “More needs to be done. Consumers need further support to have a reason to make the switch to electric.

“The move echoes the findings of the House of Lords environment and climate change committee report earlier this month.

“Under the Government’s own Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, 22 per cent of new car sales in the UK must be pure electric in 2024, by 2030 that figure must hit 80 per cent.

“The electric car market in this country is in real jeopardy. Private sales, as opposed to business and fleets, are softening and that’s a trend that needs a collective effort to reverse."

Reacting to the Budget announcement, Dally said it was hugely disappointing that the Chancellor failed to reinstate financial incentives for electric vehicle buyers.

The Government has missed an opportunity to ringfence some or all the money that would have come from the fuel duty rise and invest it into this country’s seemingly dwindling electric vehicle strategy, he remarked.


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Image of Fiat grant campaign

The company had recently called on the Government to bring back the electric vehicle grant

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The Fiat grant was offered on the Fiat 500e and Fiat 500e convertible as well as the Fiat 600e and Abarth 500e.

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