Confirming earlier speculations, Fiat has officially announced its retro-styled 500 hatchback will be coming to America in about 18 months. The 500 will be sold through Chrysler dealers nationwide and will be the only Fiat-badged vehicle sold in the states.
Richard Gadeselli, vice president of Fiat communications in Italy, revealed the news to Automotive News on Monday. “The Fiat 500 — we see that, like the MINI , as a sort of boutique car that we think we can sell in good numbers on the East and West coasts in the same way that MINI has been successful in the U.S.,” Gadeselli said.
Gadeselli didn’t give a sales prediction for the 500 in the U.S., but the Italian automaker is likely eyeing a goal of at least 40,000 sales per year – just under the volume of BMW ’s MINI brand.
Gadeselli also revealed the 500 will be the only Fiat-badged model sold in the United States. While Fiat will supply Chrysler with the underpinnings of six vehicles, each will be Chrysler-badged and wear sheet metal unique to the Chrysler brand. “The vehicles will be U.S. vehicles, designed for U.S. customers by a U.S. company,” he said.
No timeline has been given for the other Fiat-made Chrysler vehicles, but we suspect the first examples won’t be far behind the 500’s launch.
