NF500 / new cars

UK television motoring show Fifth Gear featured the new Fiat 500 recently, and the show is now on YouTube in full.

In all honesty, the review feels a little half hearted, however they do seem to believe the “really cute” Fiat 500 could knock the MINI off its perch as top of the bill for new cars in the UK.

Tom Ford (the reviewer) is not a small man in any way, and he does make the interior looked extremely cramped, especially in the rear. His words are all positive, but when you saw the angle he was wedged in there, well, actions speak louder so they say.

Anyway, it looks like Tom in particular is in love, and that can only be good news for Fiat.

Fiat SpA’s share of the rapidly growing Italian market for new cars fell in July compared to June, as the revitalised automaker lost ground on European and U.S. competitors. This is according to figures from Italy’s Transport Ministry released this Wednesday.

In its monthly review of car data, the ministry said Fiat, Europe’s fifth-biggest car maker by volume, registered a total of 30.5% of all Italian new cars last month for all its mass-market car brands, including Alfa Romeo and Lancia. This is down from June’s 31.7% market share, but still a healthy 10.1% higher than the equivalent month of 2006.

These figures come as no surprise as Fiat’s own product range begins to mature and new models are brought to market by competing manufacturers.

Late in January the company, regarded as a specialist in small cars, launched the Bravo, its first major new model in 17 months. The Bravo is positioned in a segment of the market in which Fiat has struggled in the past.

July, of course, saw the launch of the new Fiat 500.

In a statement issued as a response to these latest figures, Fiat said on Wednesday they had received more than 60,000 orders for the new Fiat 500 in less than a month. The vast majority of these orders are from home market customers.

Overall, the number of new cars registered in Italy, overwhelmingly Fiat’s biggest market, rose in July to 211,475 from 192,083 in the same month a year earlier.

Sales of Fiat’s eponymous brand fell to 23.2% of all new cars registered in July from 24.1% a month earlier.