Fiat 124 Spider is ‘profitable’, but successor seems unlikely

Boss says car adds a ‘certain cool factor’ to the brand, but is not critical to its future.

Olivier François, the CEO of Fiat, says the Fiat 124 Spider is a “profitable business for us” despite small sales globally.In an interview with Autocar François stated the car is able to stay in the black “only because of the joint venture”.The Fiat 124 Spider is built alongside the Mazda MX-5 in Japan. While the two cars share the same platform, interior and roof mechanism, the Fiat version features unique front and rear treatments. It is also powered by Fiat engines shipped in from Europe.Above: The 124 Spider and its Mazda MX-5 sibling.The Fiat boss stated the 124 Spider is “not what I’d call a pure, absolute Fiat” and “such a car may not be key to the future of the brand”.Last week François outlined the broad strokes of the latest revival plan for the Fiat brand, which centres around premium-priced models in the 500 range, and value-focussed vehicles in the urban and small car classes.The latest plan calls for Fiat to have “no big cars, no premium cars, no sporty cars”.The convertible’s viability was thrown into question earlier this year when the automaker withdrew the entire 124 Spider range from the UK after saying it wasn’t profitable to sell the car there. The 124 Spider remains on sale in Europe, North America and Australia.Last year Fiat sold 7698 124 Spider convertibles in Europe. A further 3515 found homes in the US, and 153 in Australia.MORE: 124 Spider news, reviews, comparisons and videos

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Fiat 124 Spider is ‘profitable’, but successor seems unlikely