Joe Cordiano — Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development — wants to see Fiat build cars in the Canadian province and sell them across North America. In an interview with Canada’s Tandem magazine, Cordiano said he met with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne in Italy, and suggest the idea to him. Cordiano also gave a speech at the Italian Chambers of Commerce of North America where he mentioned the proposal. Fiat’s Marchionne was reportedly open to the idea, but said any plan would involve a long-term rollout. He also cautioned bringing Fiat to North America was “not their first priority.” Earlier today, we highlighted some controversy over the timetable for Fiat to bring its Alfa Romeo brand to the U.S. and Canada.
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05/31, 3:51 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
Wow, an Italian wants to see Fiats in North America, whoulda thunk it?
05/31, 3:56 PM
posted by:
Plenty O'Toole
Would sub $10k Fiat Puntos sell in the US?
05/31, 4:00 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
Only to people who don’t value their own personal safety, and have no sense of style…I almost forgot, they have to be super cheapos too. I’d rather see an 18 year old Italian chick with long flowing dark hair, olive skin, and gigantor gazongas.
05/31, 5:06 PM
posted by:
Hugh G. Lee-Hung
The new punto looks like a baby maserati its way stylish and i think it gets 4 stars in EUro NCAP maybe even 5 so why dump on the safety issue. I bet more people have died in FOrd Explorers than in Puntos. see it at http://www.fiat.co.uk
05/31, 5:07 PM
posted by:
daveo
What makes you think they aren’t safe? And sorry, but the new Grande Punto is by far the best looking car in it’s class.
05/31, 5:12 PM
posted by:
Jon
Fix It Again Tony, in the middle of the Canadian winter, so that’s a good idea…
Jon.
05/31, 5:31 PM
posted by:
British_Rover
Actually I must say that Grande Punto is not bad looking.
05/31, 5:41 PM
posted by:
Hugh G. Lee-Hung
http://www.fiat.co.uk/GrandePunto/
05/31, 7:13 PM
posted by:
Miki
It’s not the design that makes Fiat cars disastruous. It’s the mechanical problems that never cease to appear from the moment you buy it. My mom had a ‘97 Punto and it was horrible. The same applies to Alfa Romeo and Lancia, they look good for a few years, but after that…garbage.
05/31, 9:32 PM
posted by:
Tony
I think Fiat will have a hard time in North America. People that remember them will not buy them. People that don’t know anything about them will have alot more B class cars to consider by the time Fiat comes here. Dodge Hornet, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit will all probably be updated or redesigned by the time Fiat makes it back to NA.
Fiat will have to have a flawless launch, great reliability to survive in NA more than 5 years.
06/01, 7:20 AM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Madcapp: my thoughts exactly. Ugh…Fiat….what a waste.
06/01, 9:58 AM
posted by:
JS
In my opinion, Seat (owned by VW) would do much better, especially the Seat Leon.
06/01, 1:09 PM
posted by:
Phil McCrackin
Is it really surprising that any politician is capable of making a bad business decision?
06/01, 9:05 PM
posted by:
earthling
To you of all who are so anti-Italian cars, you just show your ignorance. Madcapp, you seem to have some issues especially, have you thought about going to see a doctor?
The Fiat Grande Punto is top in it’s class, years ahead of the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, etc.. not to mention any garbage that comes out of US-based companies.. and Canadian-based, oh wait, there are no Canadian brands. My bad..
06/01, 9:09 PM
posted by:
james
Italian cars lead in innovation and design. Don’t forget that Ferrari and Maserati are part of the Fiat group, cars that are leaps and bounds better than their competition. If you look at the new Punto and the new Alfa Romeos, they are class-leading cars.
What low quality minds on this board.
06/01, 9:13 PM
posted by:
stan
Tony: The West European market is many times more competive and cut-throat than the N.A. market will ever be. You mention the et al. cars will be updated, and the Punto won’t be? Where is your brain? The new Punto is already a large leap beyond the Japanese and American b-seg wannabees. So in 5 years after they update their copies, the Punto Mk4 will once again be a jump ahead. This has been the case of Euro vs. The Rest for years, unless you are numb in the head.
06/02, 12:01 AM
posted by:
June
Ah, the keyboard warriors. You dolts on here bashing Fiat and Italian cars sound like you are either teenagers who have never been out of your bathroom, or angry middle-age men who aren’t getting any. Coming on here just to rile things up.. get a life.
06/05, 3:00 PM
posted by:
giacomo
Very true guys! Look at new Punto and you will see why Fiat is coming back in strong way. Design AND quality! Not only that, they have new C segment car coming out soon, design by Ferrari F430, Maserati MC12, MINI and X5 man Frank Stephenson. They have too, new competitor for MINI, called Cinquecento, 500, Italian iconic car, soon to market! Fiat future is bright!
06/16, 10:36 AM
posted by:
Anonymous
hhhhhhhhhhhhh
08/01, 12:25 PM
posted by:
Running On Entropy
I found an Alfa Romeo Spyder in some obscure mechanic’s garage in an Italian neighbourhood,now that I think about it,but those are style cars.It was quite amazing.Light years from the work-a-day world.That is why people own them.Compare an Alfa Romeo Spyder to an over-priced Jap ‘economy car’.Where do you start?