NF500 / small cars

It’s been confirmed by Fiat’s Chief Technology Officer Harald J. Wester recently that Fiat will bring the new Fiat 500 to the US market. Not that we didn’t know this already.

There’s no deadline, and no details on how the company plan to unleash the brand Stateside, but it’s good to hear another source quoted (this time by Auto Motor und Sport magazine) as confirming Fiat’s ambitions to bring the Fiat 500 to American shores, where the MINI has already proved small cars can sell, if they’re marketed well and have the substance to back up their style.

We previously reported that, according to an interview in the Financial Times, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne made a vow to “replicate the Mini phenomenon in the US”, saying that the Fiat 500 will be released once the range has expanded further.

Fiat are developing petrol and diesel hybrid-drive systems for small cars and vans that, if all goes to plan, could be production-ready by 2011.

The hybrid powertrains will be able to propel a vehicle for short distances using only electric power, helping to reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions during stop-start driving conditions.

We are still in the research phase and, if everything proceeds as expected, we could begin production within three years,

Alfredo Altavilla, CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies, told Automotive News Europe.

For minicars and small cars, Fiat is working on a hybrid system based on their new two-cylinder, 900cc petrol engine that mates an electric motor/generator to a dual-clutch transmission. Fiat claim the small-car system has the potential to bring a car’s CO2 emissions to below 90g/km.

For another example of what Fiat could do with the 500 in the name of greener motoring, check out the Fiat 500 Aria Concept.

According to an interview in the Financial Times, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has made a vow to “replicate the Mini phenomenon in the US”, saying that the Fiat 500 will be released Stateside after the range has expanded to include further models.

That’s a pretty high standard to set the diminutive Fiat, considering that MINI, under parent company BMW, arguably worked on completely transforming the public attitude towards small cars in the States with a highly effective (and expensive) advertising campaign. MINI had the further advantage of a well established network of successful BMW dealers who were more than prepared to put their money into the launch of the MINI brand with dedicated showrooms across the states.

It will be interesting to see how Fiat tackle targeting America with the new 500, which will follow the Alfa Romeo brand back to the USA, but it’s going to be a tall order and very interesting to watch.

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.

British purveyors of motoring fiction, Auto Express, have added a Fiat 500 “group test” video to their website Today, which you may consider worthy of a few moments of your time.  The video features a short but pleasant driving sequence of old and new 500s together on their test track.

We put group test in quotes because although they show a line-up of small cars at the start of the piece, they only actually draw any parallels in the review with the new MINI, to which they compare the new 500 rather unfavourably, especially in terms of handling and driver engagement.

However, despite saying the Fiat wallows and rolls and isn’t as engaging to drive as its looks could lead you to believe, the conclusion is that you should indeed pop down to your local friendly dealer and put your money on a new 500.  Why?  Because it will be “the car to be seen in” when it arrives in January*.

So not exactly a group test, and not really very in depth, but you can judge for yourself on the Auto Express website.

*Despite for some time Fiat saying the new Fiat 500 is on sale in the UK from February 2008

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.

German motoring publication AutoBild have a nice side-by-side review and comparison of the new Fiat 500 and new MINI One which has been published online and includes a nice video presentation of both small cars.

The review (in German, of course) compares both cars on just about every level, quality, price, performance and comfort and seems very even handed in their approach.

From what we can gather (our language skills are sadly lacking) the Fiat came out on top for comfort, price and as an all round “city car” package, whereas the MINI One felt more sporty, modern and slightly higher quality, perhaps more suited for more adventurous back road excursions.

You can read the review and watch the video feature on the AutoBild website.  Not surprisingly the feature includes scenes of the new 500 causing quite a stir among the public in it’s native Italy as the AutoBild team take the car off the beaten track.