"Fiat to stay in Serbia, and is prepping new model"

Belgrade's Politika newspaper writes that it is certain a brand new Fiat model will be manufactured at the company's Kragujevac car.

The model's working mark is "601," according to the paper.

The article added that Alfredo Leggero, head of manufacturing for EMEA region at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has already arrived in Serbia, as has Silvia Vernetti, who is in charge of the plant in Kragujevac.

Meanwhile, a deal is expected to be reached with the Serbian partner on Tuesday or Wednesday.

As the daily states, it is certain that along with the assembly the hybrid model "550-L" with an electric engine, a new model is planned, which could come out in the second half of the next year.

The new "B-SUV" would be produced in Kragujevac in parallel with the existing model "500-L", and at a certain moment it would be replaced by a new model, that would eventually reorient all production.

The reason to believe this story, Politika continued, is that the segment of this type of car, which the "500-L" is a part of, as seen falling in sales, although the "Fiat 500" from Kragujevac is still the best-selling in its segment in Europe.