fiat 500
Fiat Planning Third Model for American Lineup
The Fiat brand has had a bumpy start in the U.S. market, but the Italian automaker hopes to change things around now that its dealer network has finally expanded. Last year, Fiat 500 sales only hit 19,769 cars, way below its target goal of 50,000. But now with the Abarth 500 on the horizon, the…
Gas Price Hikes Don’t Justify a New Car
Gas prices always hit a spike in the summer, and this year is shaping up to be a doozy with prices likely to pass $4.00 per gallon by Memorial Day. With fuel costs jumping to such dramatic heights, it might feel like a logical decision to jump ship on your current car for something less…
Fiat Airs New Commercials Starting Tonight
Cocaine, beautiful women and tiger blood — these things can compel a man to insane acts, not the least of which is driving a Fiat 500 at speed through a house. That’s one image Italian automaker, Fiat, is hoping to portray (fun and youth not drugs and depravity), but the Charlie Sheen “House Arrest” commercial is…
Abarth Special Edition Trio Showcases Italian Speed: Geneva Motor Show Preview
Abarth is having a four-car party at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, with a trio of special edition models joining the already mentioned 695 Tributo Maserati. The three special edition Fiats from Abarth all made their debut back at the Bologna Motor Show in 2011, and the 695 Assetto Corse, 595 Competizione, and Punto Scorpione…
MINI Clubvan Tipped as Official Name of MINI Cargo
Someone spilled the beans on a MINI concept car coming to Geneva. They released a story that doesn’t actually have specifications, but confirms the Clubvan name and March 6 Geneva Auto Show premier. We reported on the first details behind this concept in early January, but at the time guessed it would be called the…
Mopar Fiat 500 Stinger: 2012 Chicago Auto Show
Mopar is making an appearance at the Chicago Auto Show featuring four cars they’ve decked out with loads of visual goodies including the Mopar Fiat 500 “Stinger,” pictured above. Photos hit the media last week, along with the equipment list for the Stinger, which plays up the black and yellow paint scheme you might expect…
Next Toyota Avalon Will Meet or Beat Fiat 500 33-MPG Rating
Last month, Toyota alluded to the possibility that an Avalon Hybrid was in the works, claiming that a car under development would have “more space than a BMW X5, faster than a Volkswagen TDI and higher MPG than a Fiat 500.” And now we pretty much have confirmation that the vehicle Toyota Division Group Vice President and General Manager…
Sexy Fiat Super Bowl Ad Boasts Biggest Online Traffic Increase
This Fiat 500 Abarth ad hit the spot with viewers, and showed the biggest increase in internet traffic during the course of the Super Bowl. Edmunds revealed that the commercial showed the greatest increase of traffic to the models page on their site. Using measurements at 7 different points during Sundays game, Edmunds found that the…
Mopar Fiat 500 Stinger is an American Tuned Italian Racer
Mopar introduced us to four new Chrysler tuned vehicles this morning, one of them being the Fiat 500 Stinger. The Stinger comes with a Giallo (yellow) paint job, playing on the bumblebee reference, with black racing stripe and checkered flag design on the roof. To contrast the bright yellow paint, Mopar has outfitted the Stinger…
Fiat 500L Tipped as Name for Five-Door Wagon 500
Not too long ago, reports came in that Fiat is developing a 500 five-door wagon for the US market and now it appears that the Italian automaker will be reviving the 500L model name for the upcoming five-door 500. The new five-door model gets an L added to its name for being large, and is…
Opel Allegra “Junior” Spied: Could Buick Get a Micro-Car? [Spy Photos]
In 1989, Rick Moranis played a nerdy dad who accidentally downsized his children to an insect scale in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. He probably wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that 23 years later automakers would be doing the same thing to their cars. For those of us living in the North…
50,000 Sales Target for Fiat 500 “Incredibly Naive” Admits CEO Marchionne
Look, we get it. Everyone wants to be a little optimistic when a new model hits the streets, especially when it’s one of Italy’s most iconic compact cars. When Chrysler first introduced the Fiat 500 (read out review here) to the American market, they might have been a little too optimistic by estimating that they’d…
Fiat 500 Abarth Comes With Richard Petty Driving Experience
Fiat has finally announced the pricing on their 500 Abarth model for the American market, starting at $22,000 and will include a segment-exclusive, full-day Abarth driving experience. The 500 model that’s been “designed for track-day enthusiasts and driving purists who want the ultimate high-performance small car at an attainable price,” the 500 Abarth is powered…
Fiat 500 Limo Lets You Live Large in a Small Way
Italian coachbuilder Castagna Milano has their eyes set on the American market, and to lead their entrance is a stretched Fiat 500 limo in three different variants: LimoSun, LimoCity and LimoCity Presidential. To be frank, we’re a little skeptical that the American market would even have a demand for a Fiat 500 limousine, considering that…
Chrome Fiat Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari By Office-K [Video]
It appears that the Japanese have also embraced Italy’s compact Fiat 500, but this was hardly what we expected from a Japanese tuner. Office-K out in Japan got their hands on a limited edition Fiat Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari and figured it’d look a whole lot better in chrome. The Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari comes…
2012 Fiat 500 Abarth to Start at $22,000
Pricing for the Fiat 500 Abarth model has finally been announced, starting at $22,000 making it cheaper than the Volkswagen GTI, MINI Cooper S and (presumably) the Hyundai Veloster Turbo. Though the comparisons with the other models aren’t exactly apples to apples on paper, Fiat’s 500 Abarth has the most impressive power-to-weight ratio compared. With…
MINI Cargo to Debut at 2012 Geneva Motor Show
MINI will make its way into the commercial vehicle market soon when it releases a cargo-oriented version of the Clubman. The car, officially called the MINI Cargo, is set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March and will essentially be the same as the Clubman (pictured above), but with the back seats replaced…
Citroën To Launch Fiat 500 Rival At Geneva Auto Show
As a result ,a smaller DS1 model, which will sport a range of three-cylinder engines, is planned as a 500 fighter and could even spawn a performance oriented version with 130 hp or more, especially given the availability of the 500 Abarth.
Fiat Cuts 2012 Sales Predictions by Half a Million Units
Fiat reported that its sales forecast for 2012 have fallen a staggering 500,000 units, adjusting the initial forecast from 2.7 million to a more modest target of 2.2 million units. Its Chrysler arm is forecasted to sell 2.4 million units next year. Yet while forecasts have lowered, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s target remains high and…
Iconic Fiat Plant Sold To Chery
Fiat‘s iconic assembly plant on the Island of Sicily closed on November 24th and has been taken over by an investor. The plant, which opened in 1970 and manufactured primarily Fiat 500s was sold for a token single euro. Massimo Di Risio, one of Italy’s largest car dealers, is that investor. He plans to re-open the…
Fiat 500 Gets Three Star Crash Test Rating, Lowest Of All New Cars
The slow-selling Fiat 500 hit another snag after NHTSA gave the compact car a three-star crash test rating, a dismal score in an era where five-star ratings are practically ubiquitous. While the 500 got four stars in the frontal crash and rollover tests, the side impact result was a poor two stars. Only the now-dead…
Fiat’s North America Chief Aims to Reassure Concerned Dealers
In an attempt to address these concerns, Fiat recently hired Tim Kuniskis as its new North American head, replacing Laura Soave, who has left after just 20 months on the job.
How Much Did J.Lo Get For Dancing With The Fiat 500 At The AMAs? [Video]
Was J.Lo’s performance at the American Music Awards a creative song and dance routine or a commercial for Fiat 500? Either way, it has got people talking… especially when it comes to how much Jennifer Lopez got paid to dance alongside the compact car. It’s being reported that J.Lo received about $1 million for that…
Dodge Journey, Fiat 500 Recalled For Brake Issue
Chrysler has issued a recall on Dodge Journey and Fiat 500 models produced between October 24th, 2011 and October 26th, 2011. Even though it’s such a narrow timeframe, 340 vehicles are impacted by the recall due to a faulty brake issue. The vehicles produced in the Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico plant may have been assembled with…
