NF500 / fiat enthusiasts

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.

We may be used to them being referred to as car showrooms, but in a new press release, Fiat in the UK appear to be wanting to change all that with the announcement of a new “Experience Centre” to be opened in London. We’re not sure how the new Experience Centre will size up the the Fiat Playa, but it’s an interesting concept none the less.

Full press release follows:

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd has started work on a new customer image point and sales centre in London, which will open its doors to the public in early 2008.

The site, at Wigmore Street, in the heart of the capital, marks a welcome return to central London for Fiat, which last operated a dealership in the city with Fiat Motor Sales in 1995. But the new site will be much more than simply a traditional car showroom.

The spacious, two-floored flagship location, to be known as Fiat Marylebone, will be an ‘experience centre’ which will not only engage customers and Fiat enthusiasts with web-based information and digital interaction, but will double as an event venue for fashion shows, receptions and marketing activity.

With plans for 10 full-time staff at the venue, an activities area for themed events and a quality Fiat merchandising centre have also been included in the proposal.

There will, of course, be opportunities to discover more about Fiat’s stunning range of new cars – including the forthcoming 500 – and to order a new vehicle, but the 1,000m2 site’s non-showroom environment is also designed to enlighten, inform and entertain visitors while introducing them, through a personalised service, to the fantastic world of Fiat.

This is all about the life and character of London, brought together into our new location,

says Tony Dittli, managing director of the new site.

It’s exciting, lively, bright and says a lot about us.

We expect people to come from around the country to see us. They will be able to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and experience the whole new approach to displaying our brand. And if they like what they see, they can contact their local dealers when they return home. That’s the idea of it.

The London flagship will set a new benchmark for us,

says Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd.

In allowing us to present our cars in a new way, it will give us the ability to satisfy customer needs in a manner befitting of such a large and influential city.

Fiat Marylebone will be situated at 105 Wigmore Street, W1. Working in conjunction with it, a new aftersales centre is being set up a short distance away. This site will offer servicing and repairs for London’s Fiat owners.