NF500 / car of the year

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd has shown its support for Save The Children by donating a new Fiat 500 for the aid organisation’s gala charity auction this week.

The car will be one of a staggering list of prizes due to be bid for at Save the Children’s Festival of Trees Gala Dinner in London’s Natural History Museum tomorrow (Tuesday 4 December) in the presence of charity President, HRH The Princess Royal.

The special auction will help raise money for Save the Children’s on-going work around the world. And when the charity heads decided to find a new car to put under the hammer, they knew exactly which one they wanted - the 2008 Car of the Year.

With its stylish good looks, exceptional choice of standard and optional equipment, five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating and incredible value for money, the new Fiat 500 has been set aside as a star attraction at the auction event. The car will also be on display at the gala dinner.

The idea is that guests bid for one of the bespoke designer ‘Christmas Trees’ which come with special prizes attached,

said Save the Children spokeswoman Susannah Parker.

They might be a luxury safari, tickets to a Premiership football match or a garden re-design, and guests can also bid for a sensational prize - the new Fiat 500.

More than

One interesting aspect of the 2008 Car of the Year website is a section entitled ‘The Voting Grid’.  Sounds riveting doesn’t it?  But bear with us.

The Voting Grid shows all the judges, where they come from, how they voted and why. Splitting the vote into nations, it appears opinion on on the Fiat 500 is most strongly divided in Germany where judges granted the car either 10 or 2 points and nothing else.  France, Great Britain and Italy generally appear smitten and Portugal comes over largely unimpressed.

We’re not sure if the voting could be labelled the automotive equivalent of the politically charged Eurovision Song Contest, but it is quite interesting to see how different cars are received (by the press at least) in different countries and cultures all the same.

Well, it is now officially official, the Fiat 500 IS Car of the Year 2008, and here is the official Fiat press release to mark the occasion…

The international jury presiding over the Car of the Year award, made up of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, has elected the Fiat 500 Car of the Year 2008 with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202).

In addition to winning the Car of the Year 2008 award outright, the super-compact Fiat distinguished itself by obtaining votes from most members of the jury: 57 out of 58 included it in their short-list, and 33 made it top in their personal rankings.

This is the second time – the first was the Fiat Panda in 2004 – that an A-segment model has won the most prestigious award in the world car industry. This extraordinary record brings total Fiat Group Automobiles wins to twelve: the Fiat 124 (1967), Fiat 128 (1970), Fiat 127 (1972), Lancia Delta (1980), Fiat Uno (1984), Fiat Tipo (1989), Fiat Punto (1995), Fiat Bravo/Brava (1996), Alfa 156 (1998), Alfa 147 (2001), Fiat Panda (2004) and the Fiat 500 (2008).

Launched on 4 July this year, the new Fiat 500 immediately aroused huge interest and very favourable comments made by more than 7,000 people from 63 countries (more than 1,000 journalists were accredited) who homed in on Turin for its début: institutional authorities, financial analysts, businessmen and celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, fashion and sport.

Critical acclaim was immediately confirmed by intense customer interest. More than 105,000 orders were taken in just four months in only two countries (Italy and France), while interest continues to grow in the rest of Europe, (for example: 6,300 orders have already been placed in Germany where the car went on sale just a few weeks ago). As of today, in Europe, the Fiat 500 stands second in the A-segment with a share of 14.1% (behind the Fiat Panda with a 21.2% share).

The Fiat 500 is the manifesto of ‘new Fiat’, a model that is in all respects the physical demonstration of the company’s new approach, the renewed strategies of the brand, a different way of interpreting the car. That is why the Fiat 500 has set new benchmarks in its segment. For example, this is the first time that a car barely 3.55 metres long has been awarded a 5 star crash safety rating by Euro NCAP, and this is the first time that a car in this segment has seven airbags fitted as standard (it is also the only super-compact to fit a knee-bag), with the advanced ESP available on all models (standard on the 1.4 16v 100 bhp).

In addition, this is the first time that a model has been launched with the entire range of power units (1.2 69 bhp, 1.3 MultiJet 75 bhp with DPF and 1.4 16v 100 bhp), built to respect emissions limits set by Euro 5, and all this more than two years in advance of the legislative deadline.

This is also the first time that a ‘small’ car like the Fiat 500 has been able to boast such a broad range, which is made possible by choosing from: four trim levels, three engines and 12 colours (among these are six vintage colours that evoke memories of the ’50s and ’60s, and the three-layer white, a sophisticated paint process that up to now has only been adopted on supercars).

Customers can also choose from 15 interiors including the prestigious Cordura and Frau Leather, nine types of road wheel, and 19 sticker treatments, for a total of more than 500,000 variations.

In addition, 100 original accessories have been designed for the Fiat 500 – among which the most surprising are an electric aroma diffuser and colour-coded key fobs – along with the most advanced infotelematic systems: for example a multifunctional portable navigator from the Blue&MeTM platform.

The Car of the Year award started in 1964. To enter, new cars must go on sale in at least five different European markets in the course of the year. Judgments are expressed on the following parameters: design, comfort, safety, economic operation, driveability, performance, practicality, respect for the environment, price and value for money. A first selection is made from all the new models marketed in the course of the year (this year 33 cars were involved) and seven are shortlisted. Each member of the jury has 25 points to distribute among the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 points going to their first choice.

The award ceremony for Car of the Year 2008, organised by the German magazine Stern, will take place in Berlin on 28 January 2008.

Following on from the earlier claimed leak of the winner of the 2008 Car of the Year award, Autovisie has revealed further details, confirming the 2008 winner to be the new Fiat 500.

The 500, it turns out, beat the Mazda 2 into second place with the new Ford Mondeo claiming third position according to the rather cryptic scoring system.  The top three scored 385, 325 and 202 points respectively.  Bottom of the pile was the Peugeot 308, with a mere 97 points to its name. 

Fiat 500 - 385
Mazda2 - 325
Ford Mondeo - 202
Kia Cee’d - 166
Nissan Qashqai - 147
Mercedes C-Klasse - 128
Peugeot 308 - 97

Following Fifth Gear’s rather gushing report on the new Fiat 500, it will come as no surprise to many to learn the dimunitive car has been awarded as the the Channel 5 show’s “Best Small Car of the Year”. Which is even more impressive considering the show comes from the UK, where the car is several months from release.

Accepting the award at Fiat’s UK headquarters in Slough, Berkshire, Giulio Salomone, Managing Director of Fiat Group Automobiles UK said:

We are absolutely delighted with this great honour.

Clearly the British public like what they see in our new 500 – already more than 5,000 have expressed an interest in ordering one – and it’s fantastic to see that motoring experts such as those working on Fifth Gear agree.

The new 500 scooped one of only three category awards given in Fifth Gear’s annual honours, the others being Best Family Car and Best Fast Car. It was praised by the show’s presenters and production team for its style, handling, performance and build quality.

Special mention was also made of the new 500’s recent Euro NCAP five star crash safety rating (35 points) which puts it among the safest cars available in Europe today.

The Best Small Car is arguably the most important award Fifth Gear gives out as more small cars are sold in the UK than any other sector,

says James Woodroffe, Producer, Fifth Gear.

Consumers want a supermini that doesn’t feel like it’s built to a budget, but is styled with flair, and comes with the maximum five star Euro NCAP safety rating.
The Fiat 500 fits the bill better than anything else we’ve driven this year and was a unanimous choice.

The 500 has already gone on sale in many mainland European countries, including Italy, France, Germany and Spain and will be launched in the UK early in 2008. Available with a choice of three engines, built to comply with the latest and toughest Euro 5 exhaust emissions regulations, and either five or six-speed gearboxes. A Dualogic sequential robotised 5-speed gearbox will become available next year for the petrol engines.

The engine range comprises the 69 bhp 1.2 and the 100 bhp 1.4 petrol units from the FIRE family that boasts a total output of over 10 million engines to date, plus the widely acclaimed 75 bhp 1.3 16v MultiJet turbodiesel with DPF, of which over two million have been built to date.

We already new this, but it is nice to get official word, and here it is:

The seven finalists for the prestigious “Car of the Year 2008″ accolade have been revealed as the Fiat 500, Ford Mondeo, Kia Cee’d, Mazda 2, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Nissan Qashqai and the Peugeot 308.

The finalists were decided by a first round vote by the 58 European jury members from a list of 35 eligible cars, all launched in the past 12 months.

The second round of voting (deadline 12 November), in which jury members have 25 points to allocate to at least five cars (with no ties for first place), will decide the Car of the Year 2008. The winner will be announced across Europe on Monday 19 November 2007. A special presentation will be made to the winning car manufacturer at the annual Autocar Awards in London the same evening.

The Car of the Year is in its 45th year. The jury consists of professional motoring writers from 22 European countries. The British jury members are: Steve Cropley, editor-in-chief of Autocar; Andrew English, motoring correspondent of The Daily Telegraph; Paul Horrell, contributing editor, Top Gear magazine; Ray Hutton, motor industry correspondent of The Sunday Times; John Simister, motoring correspondent of The Independent; and David Williams, motoring editor of the Evening Standard. Ray Hutton is the president of the International Jury.

The organising committee consists of seven leading European publications - Autocar in the UK, Auto in Italy, L’Automobile in France, Autopista in Spain, Auto Visie in Holland, Stern in Germany and Vi Bilagare in Sweden.

The Fiat 500 is among seven finalists for the 2008 Car of the Year awards.  The official announcement of the shortlist was apparently due next week, but several motoring sites are already reporting the chosen finalists, which includes the new Fiat 500 among its ranks.  The full list is as follows:

• Fiat 500
• Ford Mondeo
• Kia cee’d
• Mazda 2
• Mercedes C-class
• Nissan Qashqai
• Peugeot 308