Fiat is having trouble selling one of its most famous electric models in Italy. Italian police are banning the Topolino from entering the country because of the detail of an Italian ‘mini-flag’ emblazoned under the vehicle’s handle.
The local police claim that this would be a way to ‘deceive’ the consumer, as the flag would imply that the manufacture of the vehicle is in Italy, when in reality it is made in Morocco, at the Kenitra factory. The information is from the ‘Motor1’ website.
In all, 143 examples of the model were stopped in the port city of Livorno, in Tuscany, by the Italian police because of the country’s flag. It is important to emphasize that the problem is not the place exposed, but the symbols themselves.
The law that prohibits the display of the flag or any symbol of Italy that gives the impression that production is on Italian territory, has been in place since 2003 and states: “The import and export for the purpose of marketing or the practice of acts unequivocally directed to the marketing of products that bear indications of provenance, or false or misleading origin constitute a criminal offence and are punishable under Article 517 of the Criminal Code”.
The punishment for the company, in this case Fiat, would be from 10,000 euros (R$55,000) to 250,000 euros (R$1.3 million) as provided for in the law cited above. The Italian automaker tried to justify the increase in the symbol by justifying that the vehicle was developed in Turin, Italy.
As much as Fiat has presented a justification, the company has already accepted the order and will remove the flags of the 143 models to allow their entry into the country.
See below a photo gallery of Topolino:
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