Stellantis to double number of Italian workers sent to Serbia, but still far from target

Since it debuted at the beginning of 2025, Grande Panda has received positive ratings from everybody who has had the opportunity to drive this car that is assembled in Kragujevac. From the “home country” of Italy, through Germany, France and the Netherlands, all the way to Great Britain – straight A’s.

However, when it comes to manufacture, the reality is much more complex for Grande Panda.

Little has changed in the past few weeks since Stellantis had to double the number of employees at the factory in Serbia. It was a forced attempt to initiate a scale of manufacture which is still far below the ambitions of the Italian brand. Let us remind that, in mid-April, Stellantis started sending Italian workers from the Fiat and Maserati factories in Melfi and Modena to Kragujevac. Initially, around thirty volunteers applied. Now their number has doubled.

One shift produces 240-250 cars, aiming for 500 a day

Last Monday, the group commenced technical tests in order to open the “hypothetical” second shift too, with the aim of producing 240-250 cars a day. Currently, around 120 Grande Pandas are made every day, which is still far from the plan that Stellantis set in March – 500 cars a day. However, things are better than at the end of April, when it was 80 to 100 cars, but still far from the scale needed to meet the European demand. There has been talk that Fiat got over 15 thousand orders in a few weeks when it started selling in bigger markets.

Grande Panda ordered in April to be delivered by November

Milano Finanza writes that everything that is happening has led to the extension of the delivery deadlines. According to the information available to them, if you ordered a car in April, you can expect to get it in August in the best-case scenario. This pertains to Grande Panda EV. A hybrid model will not be delivered before November! It’s no wonder, then, that the number of registrations has dropped. In Italy, in March, 233 Grande Panda EV cars were registered for the 10th place on the list.

In April, Renault 5 is 10th with 172 cars. The same goes for France, with 448 cars in March, and the sales in April dropped to under 400. The delay is also explained with a lack of eDCT gearshifts, necessary for hybrid engines. That’s not helping Fiat either, as its European strategy is largely based on this model.

Grande Panda is not a model like others. Designed as a big relaunching of the Fiat brand on the continent, it combines neo and retro styles, attractive prices and electrification. In order to keep the promises, the manufacture needs to be stepped up. Behind the curtains, Stellantis is racing against time. With the Italian boost, the group plans to launch the production of the Grande Panda model in South America (Brazil) and North Africa (Algeria) for the local markets. But in Europe, everything currently rests on Kragujevac.

FCA Srbija Kragujevac

Stellantis

Grande Panda

manufacture in Kragujevac

Fiat Kragujevac