NF500 / fiat cars

Consultancy and research company JATO have declared that among the top ten selling vehicle manufacturers in Europe, Fiat Automobiles recorded the lowest average CO2 emissions value for automobiles sold during 2007, setting an impressive benchmark of 137.3 g/km

The full rundown puts Fiat ahead of Peugeot at 141.9 g/km with sister company Citroen coming in at 142.2 g/km. Another French manufacturer, Renault come in fourth place with 146.4 g/km average, followed by Ford at 149.1 g/km. The chasing pack is made up my Vauxhall/Opel, Volkswagen, BMW, and in last palce Mercedes with average CO2 emissions of 188.4 g/km.

The results of this important analysis reward Fiat’s ongoing commitment to finding innovative solutions to reduce levels of polluting emissions and CO2

explained Lorenzo Sistino, managing director of Fiat Automobiles

Fiat’s aim is always to stay closer to people’s real needs and its commitment does not end here. Irrespective of what is decided by the powers-that-be in Europe, our aim is still to achieve the lowest average adjusted level of CO2 emissions for Fiat cars by 2012. Fiat intends to achieve this result by introducing an action plan on engines and transmissions, in addition to the use of the Eco Drive, an innovative application developed with Microsoft that is able – via the USB Port of the versatile Blue&Me system - to analyse motorists’ driving styles, helping them to optimise behaviour in terms of fuel consumption and hence emissions.

While Fiat are very publicly touting their eco-credentials of late, with innovations in the pipeline concerning hybrid drive systems and other combined fuel saving technologies, as recently shown in the Fiat 500 Aria concept, one huge aid in achieving these figures is Fiat’s product portfolio, which leans heavily towards smaller, and therefore almost by default, more frugal and lower emitting cars than many rivals.

Fiat are also working hard to be ready for future regulation ahead of time, for example the Fiat 500 and the Fiat Bravo have already seen the introduction of Euro 5 Ready power units (petrol and diesel) to the range. And by the end of 2009, the majority of engines in the entire Fiat range will be Euro 5 ready. Fiat is also the first manufacturer to develop the Multijet technology that drives all new-generation diesel cars and is a world leader in the field of methane-driven OEM cars (more than 50,000 were sold last year in Italy).

While investing in alternative fuel technology, Fiat is also embarking on a mission to downsize its diesel and petrol engine versions, as demonstrated by the new 1.4 T-Jet and 1.6 Multijet families. The adoption of a new-generation turbocharger, combined with a smaller capacity engine, enables Fiat to achieve performance levels on a par with, or even in excess of higher-capacity power units, but with lower fuel consumption and emissions.

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd has just opened a stylish new Flagship Store in London’s West End, and is marking the occasion with a design exhibition and celebrity party.

The showroom, located in the heart of the capital at Wigmore Street, London W1, features a cutting-edge interior of chrome and glass which provides a striking backdrop to the range of Fiat cars on display.

The company scored a PR coup in January when it launched the iconic new Fiat 500 in the UK by ‘flying’ it in one of the capsules on the London Eye. Now Fiat is working on establishing its new Flagship Store as a ‘cool’ place for car buyers and Fiat enthusiasts, as well as marketing it as a venue for corporate meetings, fashion shows, art and design exhibitions, and as a lavish set for film makers.

CNN (yes, that CNN) has already booked the Fiat Flagship Store for a high level seminar for the automotive world’s leading marketers and media opinion-formers. But not us, sadly.

Coinciding with a glittering celebrity party kicked off by the Italian Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona, the opening night exhibition, called Fiat Workpop 500, featured the work of 22 young designers who are competing to design an accessory for the Fiat 500 that will be chosen to go into production, and become available for general sale.

Top international designer Ron Arad, Head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art, and chairman of leading Italian homeware group Guzzini, is heading the competition’s panel of judges.

Ron Arad attended the Fiat Flagship Store opening night (Tuesday 11 March) along with Fiat Centro Stile’s Roberto Giolito – the designer and ‘father’ of the Fiat 500 –Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK, Tony Dittli, managing director of the Flagship Store, and Elena Bernardelli, marketing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK.

The Fiat 500 Workpop exhibition, our relationships with the London Design Museum, where the new Fiat 500 is being exhibited, and the London Design Festival, which we sponsor, reflects Fiat’s enthusiasm to interact with our style and design partners,

says Elena Bernardelli.

In preparation for its inaugural motorsport debut in the Celebrity Challenge at this years Australian Formula One GP, the new Fiat 500 has taken to our most famous of racetracks - Bathurst. Spiritual home of Australian motorsport, Bathurst is a daunting track for a supercar V8 which makes it a great place to give the little 500 a good shake-down.

The cars for the Celebrity Challenge are the very first racing cars to be built from the new Fiat 500 and our first car arrived here fresh out of the box, so we wanted to see how it performed and how it we could tweak it to make it even more exciting for Melbourne. With the Fiat Car Club holding their annual hill climb event at Bathurst, there could be no better place to see how the Fiat 500 performed!

said David Stone, General Manager for Fiat Cars in Australia. According to David, the little 500 tackled Mount Panorama with aplomb.

The steering was sharp and responsive, there was plenty of grip and the handling enables the driver to get plenty of speed in the corners, but safely in the knowledge that if he does go too fast, the 500 will help him get out of danger

Rumours have begun circulating this week that the Fiat group may go a step further with the Abarth brand.

Rather than merely being a separate division of the Fiat group, producing hot versions of Fiat cars and being behind one make race series, Abarth could become a car maker in it’s own right.

The Abarth cars would share Fiat platforms and technology, but have their own unique sporty attitude and style, and the car to kick this all off could be a roadster, based on the new Fiat 500 platform.

These rumours have sprung from a conversation between motoring publication Caradisiac and Fiat Director Luca De Meo, where Mr De Meo apparently hinted that Abarth could create it’s own models and become a stand alone “halo” brand within the Fiat group, which was then picked up by AutoBlog and the rest of the World.

While the appeal of the Abarth name and it’s historic racing pedigree is clear, creating a new range of cars for the marque could be an expensive and risky process. Rumours suggest that if this were to happen the Abarths would most likely be sold by Fiat dealers, bringing customers into the showroom who would otherwise perhaps be disinterested in less sporty or dramatic Fiat offerings.