NF500 / crash safety

The coveted Car of the Year 2008 award, which was given to the Fiat 500 by a jury of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, was presented this evening (28 January) at a ceremony in Berlin.

Fiat’s supermini was not only the overall winner, but it also received votes from the largest number of jury members: 57 out of 58 included the car on their short lists, and 33 put it in first place.

It is the second A-Segment car – the first was the Fiat Panda in 2004 – to win the worldwide motor industry’s most prestigious title. An extraordinary record that brings the total Car of the Year titles won by Fiat Group Automobiles to 12.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Group Automobiles, who received the award, said:

We have gone a long way in a short space of time, and I am proud to be able to underline that Fiat was the fastest growing car brand in Europe last year. The 500 is not a final target for the brand, but just the first stage in the ongoing development of the ‘new Fiat’. Which is why we see the 500 as not just a car, but as a ‘travelling agenda’ of what we want to achieve.

The Fiat 500 marks the first time that a car of just 3.55 metres long has been awarded five Euro NCAP stars for crash safety, and the standard fitting of seven airbags is a ‘first’ for this category (the knee-bag is unique for a supermini). It is also the first car to be launched with an engine range (69 bhp 1.2, 75 bhp 1.3 MultiJet with DPF and 100 bhp 1.4 16v) that already reaches Euro 5 emissions limits, more than two years before these become law.

These are some of the winning features of a car that has become the new benchmark for its segment. And the prestigious Car for the Year 2008 title confirms the great interest it has aroused since it was presented in Turin on 4 July last year. More than 140,000 orders have been placed by European customers since the car’s launch.

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.