Fiat’s Chief Technology Officer Harald J. Wester recently reveled the Italian automaker’s future vehicle plans and, from the sound of it, Fiat has some big plans for its small car lineup. Fiat is currently working on two new small cars and is also planning to bring its highly successful 500 to North America.
The first car under development is a new B-compact world car. It will replace the Palio range and will bridge the gap between the A-segment Panda and the recently-upscaled B-segment Grande Punto.
The new model could even spawn its own brand. According to Auto Motor und Sport, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is keen on the idea of launching a new low-cost brand — as Renault did with Dacia — possibly under the Innocenti nameplate.
The second car in the works is a new microcar to slot under the 500 and Panda. Not much else was revealed about the microcar, but it should hit the market by 2009 or 2010.
But the biggest news Wester revealed — at least to those of us who live in the U.S. — is that Fiat is planning to sell its 500 small car in North America. Production for U.S.-bound 500s will either take place at a yet-to-be-named North American plant or one of Fiat’s production facilities in South America.
It remains unclear how Fiat would distribute the 500, but it’s possible Fiat could use Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships — as Fiat and Tata have close ties. However, since the 500 would be a rather inexpensive car, premium dealerships might not be an ideal distribution network.
Wester failed to give a time frame for a North American 500, but with Alfa Romeo soon re-entering the U.S. market, the 500 shouldn’t be too far behind.
04/15, 11:07 AM
posted by:
mr.meanpants
Oh man such good news! My heart has always belonged to the Italians, especially perky four cylinder ones.
04/15, 11:32 AM
posted by:
Stinky007
Finally somebody is trying to build cheaper cars.
I’m sick of everybody “going premium”….
04/15, 11:52 AM
posted by:
howsmydriving
God save America (this, from a former Fiat owner).
04/15, 12:00 PM
posted by:
TomF
A friend of mine drove an orange Fiat Strada in the 1980s. It was the worst-built car I have ever seen in my life… a rolling joke. I love the design of the 500, but oh boy, Fiat has a reputation to overcome before I’ll do anything except look at pictures of it in magazines.
04/15, 12:00 PM
posted by:
A4
why would premium dealerships be a bad idea? It could be positioned like the more expensive MINI, only as a cheaper better italian alternative.
04/15, 12:38 PM
posted by:
inline6
Fiat’s last stand in this country was 1983, the year I was born.
In the past 25 years, Fiat have tightened up their quality control drastically - especially the last 5 years.
I’m not worried about their cars being lemons, and since Fiats haven’t been offered here in a quarter of a century, I would imagine that Fiat’s got less of an uphill climb than you might think - especially since their products are going to be aimed at my generation.
04/15, 1:22 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
They would be nothing more a bug on the North American automotive windshield. Inline6: you may not remember, but many of us still do.
04/15, 2:03 PM
posted by:
Z06ified
God help us. It seems the rest of the world is preying on American’s stupidity and lack of style in buying cars, and they’re dumping the world’s ugliest cars on us. First it was the Element, then it was Scion, then the Nissan Cube, and now the Fiat 500. My eyes are getting permanently scarred by uglyness.
04/15, 3:26 PM
posted by:
planet_drive
Cool little car, would love to own one if they sell it here. Very chic, but this car is way cooler on European streets, American streets just aren’t as cool and trendy as they were in the 60’s
04/15, 3:36 PM
posted by:
LexusSoarer
People act as if FIAT has not progressed any since they last left the US shores. Fact is the 500 is one of the most popular and overall well made small cars sold in the world now. It is not a bad idea for FIAT to return since Alfa is already headed this way, they can at least at that point have joint-dealerships since they are under the same canopy.
04/15, 5:53 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
The 500 is an excellent car to have available, especially in light of absurd gas prices. They’ll sell faster than crack in the projects.
04/15, 7:02 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
I’ll bet some serious money this will be a major hit in Montreal. People here love small urban sprinters like this, the Mini, the Yaris, the Fit, etc.
04/15, 7:44 PM
posted by:
autonut
I think FIAT did fix quality, based on European reports. FIATs always looked good, drove great (on par with BMW). Maybe it will work? I’ll read Comsumer Report before I jump in it.
04/15, 8:46 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Consumer Report. Seriously autonut, is that really you?
04/15, 9:05 PM
posted by:
autonut
johnny, there is no other indication of quality. with children in Ivy league colleges (observe plural) I can ill afford to drop money for my toys of choice and not to look back. This is the most available statistical sample of quality. Granted, it is slanted toward Camry and Accord more then toward ‘Vette, but Consumer Report declares Jeeps and Minis to be best re-sellers. It also declares Jeeps lemons and pre-2006 Minis.
04/15, 11:15 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Congrats autonut on the kids in college. I have one myself and another- well, who knows what will happen in 4 years. I’m afraid however, I take the Deansters point of view when it comes to this particular publication in that it is not worthy of lining your bird cage with. There are no ‘bad’ new cars out there compared to 10-20 years ago and if you have a warranty- who cares? It’s different with used cars after the warranty’s expired where it is a genuine crapshoot and maybe, just maybe, the likes of Consumer Report might give you better odds of finding a good one. I prefer to trust my gut, and that’s not just the Canadian beer talking.
04/16, 8:22 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
I can attest to the JEeps having tremendous resale value, especially the Wranglers and TJs.
It’s not uncommon to see a Jeep TJ Wrangler resell for 75% of its original value 4 years from the original purchase date in Montreal, especially summertime.
04/16, 10:36 AM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
Fix
It
Again
Tony
A Chevy Aveo is a much better built car with tons more quality and reliability.
04/16, 2:19 PM
posted by:
Get Real
“Time Frame” means we need to get the quality problems fixed.