Fiat Doesn't Want You to Buy the 500e
Fiat- Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne doesn’t want you to buy one the cars his company sells, because it loses him money.
Speaking at a panel held at the Brookings Institution in Washington that discussed the after-effects of the auto industry bailouts, Marchionne admitted that each all-electric Fiat 500e that the company sells costs him $14,000.
“I hope you don’t buy it,” said Marchionne of the 500e, “Because every time I sell one, it costs me $14,000.” Previously, Marchionne has said that the 500e only costs Chrysler $10,000 on each unit sold.
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The 500e is only available in California right now to make sure that Chrysler complies with the California Air Resource Board’s zero-emissions rules, which state that you must sell at least one all-electric car in the state to be able to sell other vehicles there. Chrysler says it plans to also sell the 500e in Oregon starting this summer.
The Fiat 500e carries a base price of $32,300, but can be had for as little as $19,300 once tax credits and incentives are taken into account.
Discuss this story at our Fiat 500 Forum
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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After this heroic statement from mr Marchionne I wouldn't be surprised if 500e would start selling out like crazy. Reverse - marketing. Say you don't want customers to buy a certain product and suddenly everyone wants to have it hoping they will obtain something unique.