5oo in USA?

[T a u r u s]

Fiat may send minicar to US

TURIN – Fiat is considering sending a sporty version of its reborn 500 minicar to the US to compete with the Mini Cooper. But the car would not wear the Fiat badge.

According to high-ranking sources within the Fiat Group, who spoke with Automotive News Europe under condition of anonymity, CEO Sergio Marchionne's idea is to export the Abarth 500, the sporty, 120hp version of the Fiat 500.

Exports could begin sometime after 2010.

If the plan is approved, the cars would be sold in large cities, mainly by selected Alfa Romeo dealers. Alfa plans to return to the US in the first half of 2009 with a three-model range.

The Abarth 500 will cost more than €15,000 in Europe, or about $20,195 at current exchange rates. The Mini Cooper has a base price of $18,700 in the US.

"We cannot exclude our new 500 would go, in some forms, to the US market, but not shortly," Marchionne said recently at a press event for the Fiat Linea sedan.


Confident Fiat

Marchionne's willingness to compete in the US is a sign of the growing confidence of Fiat, which two years ago was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Fiat's new 500 is an interesting concept. The success of the Mini suggests there is a market for deliberately retro, nostalgic small cars, and customers will pay a premium price," said Max Warburton, European auto analyst at UBS in London.

Fiat will launch the new 500, a remake of the iconic minicar, on July 4 - the 50th anniversary of the original 500.

Fiat expects to sell 58,000 units of the new 500 this year, with the assembly plant in Tychy, Poland, reaching full capacity of 120,000 units in 2008.

Fiat will price the new 500 close to the Mini - prices are expected to start around €11,000.

But Marchionne is not rushing to bring the Fiat brand back to the US. He is convinced that the market is not structurally ready to move to smaller cars.

Marchionne said, "I have seen it in the '70s, in the '80s and partly also in the '90s. The US consumer gets attracted by small cars when oil prices skyrocket, but as soon as gas prices return to normal, so does the consumer attitude."

Fiat stopped selling cars in the US in 1983.

[T a u r u s]

Fiat may sell sporty minicar in the United States



TURIN, Italy -- Fiat may export a sporty version of its new 500 minicar to the United States after 2010.

"We cannot exclude that our new 500 would go in some form to the U.S. market," Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters.

Marchionne's idea is to export the Abarth 500, the 120-hp sporty version of the car, company sources say. Fiat will launch the 500 this summer, reviving the iconic 1950s-vintage nameplate.

The 500 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback that is 139.7 inches long. Fiat will price the 500 as an upscale minicar to rival BMW's Mini.

"The success of the Mini suggests there is a market for deliberately retro, nostalgic small cars, and that customers will pay a premium price," said Max Warburton, auto analyst at UBS in London.


Early next year, Fiat will introduce the turbocharged Abarth 500 version. The Abarth 500 will be priced above $20,000 in Europe. It will not be badged as a Fiat.

Fiat likely would export small numbers of the vehicle to the United States to qualify for less restrictive federal standards. The Abarth 500 would be sold in metropolitan areas, mainly by Alfa Romeo dealers, sources say.

Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand is expected to return to the United States in 2009. At the Geneva auto show in March, Fiat revived the Abarth brand with the Abarth Grande Punto

[Autodelta85]

fonte ? ? ?

[T a u r u s]

automotive news.comunque 5oo Abarth ha ca. 135cv non 120...

[JOKEJOE]

[dario81]

poco tempo fa negli USA hanno fatto una campagna di prevendita della smart fortwo e sono andate a ruba in pochissimo tempo...e c'era anche da versare una piccola caparra per l'acquisto (una quota simbolica di 100 dollari)

se quella scatoletta è andata così bene non vedo perchè non provare a lanciare anche la 500...

[nunoHGT]

...il 5oo 'a il vero world car di Fiat , spero che lo portano anche in Brasile , perche venderebbe tantissimo.