Fiat to take the 124 Spider off the assembly line

Italian car marque Fiat has decided to discontinue the resurrected Fiat 124 Spider roadster series after three years of production. According to the Board of Directors, designing the second generation of the car, which is based on the Mazda MX-5 chassis and tech, would not be viable.

The model made a comeback after 31 years out of production and was a collaboration between Fiat and Mazda.

The CEO of the company did not deny that the first generation was profitable, but emphasized that the second one might still fall short of expectations sales-wise.

Even after all the explanations, the decision seems dubious. On the one hand, designing a new generation of a roadster-type vehicle can indeed cost a fortune. On the other hand, it was the 124 Spider that became the best-selling Fiat vehicle in the United States in July. It also scored the second place in popularity in its market category. Maybe a 20% sales drop between 2018 and 2019 was what prompted Fiat to discontinue the series.