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REPORT: Fiat 500 may come to U.S. for 2010 (sorry Canada)
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Fiat 500
If some hot new rumors are correct, this week's Chrysler-Fiat tie-up could start to bear some very shiny and round fruit surprisingly soon. According to Motor Trend editor Todd Lassa, Fiat's cuddly 500 is being discussed for possible fast-tracking for American showrooms "in well under 18 months." Interestingly, 2010 is the target US launch date that has been floating around for some time now, but now thanks to the Chrysler-Fiat arrangement, there now seems to be an obvious distribution conduit.
According to MT's source, the retro-minded bubble bauble would arrive in Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep showrooms powered by a 100-horsepower four-cylinder engine and sporting a new front fascia disguising a reconfigured bumper strike beam. Interestingly, Lassa says that the car may be sold only in the U.S. and not Canada because the latter has slightly different impact standards that could be tougher to meet. America's northerly neighbors evidently require that front turn-signal lenses be able to withstand a five mile-per-hour impact without cracking (many such lights are used as government-mandated daytime running lamps) and a modified 500 may still not be able to meet this standard.
Gallery: Fiat 500
[Source: Motor Trend]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
sjd 8:07AM (1/22/2009)
Canadian bumper laws were harmonized with those of the U.S. earlier this summer. I would think that the turn signals fall under that? Either way I am glad Chrysler is wasting no time getting decent product over here.
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Rogue_G 9:48AM (1/22/2009)
That's my understanding as well. The bumper laws should be no different for Canada/US. Sounds like this source may not be the most 'reputable', or knowledgeable, about the topic. It's too bad too, the best news about the merger is the possibility of an imported 500 Abarth.
Kitko 11:19AM (1/22/2009)
No longer true, bumper standards were harmonized last year
http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/releases/nat/2008/08-h158e.htm
Kitko 11:22AM (1/22/2009)
Appology for the post, left it hang out written too long before actually hitting Add Comment button
freckles 8:21AM (1/22/2009)
mini cooper look out!
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Jei 8:22AM (1/22/2009)
Yes. A few hurdles to meet US standards. If the Smart Fortwo can meet them, then this little FIAT definitely will.
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Jason 8:48AM (1/22/2009)
The car was actually built with exportation to the U.S. market in mind, so the changes necessary to sell it here should be relatively minor.
BigWill 8:23AM (1/22/2009)
I suppose Chrysler dealers will at least get traffic, but outside of that I don't see these being any kind of volume seller considering the price will probably be in Mini Cooper territory and it will be competing against the cheaper Kia Soul and probably cheaper Nissan Cube.
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Flea 1:18PM (1/22/2009)
actually, it's going to be cheaper, and faster, than a Mini ONE. Cooper versions are Abarth territory, which is still cheaper and still faster.
BigWill 5:44PM (1/22/2009)
Base price of the MINI Cooper is $18,550. Considering that any 500s coming to the US will have to be high end models (the 1.2l versions are not coming here and the 1.4l is the largest gas engine currently available in the 500), we're looking at $16-20K for the 500s if/when they get here.
All of that ignores the fact the Fiat 1.4l isn't a particularly great engine and is 20+ horsepower down on the BMW or Kia 1.6l engines in its would-be competitors here.
rick 8:24AM (1/22/2009)
Oh Yeah!! I'll take one. I've been waiting on something like this to come stateside. I hope it get all DOT'd, EPA'd, and NHTSA'd enought that makes it lose its character of the Euro version.
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Eric Liberatore 10:27AM (1/22/2009)
As long as they don't put a Chrysler or Dodge label on it, it will do great. Can you imagine them putting a crosshair grille on this thing?
Mike P. 12:09PM (1/22/2009)
Although, it doesn't look *so* bad with a Chrysler badge. If Chrysler's trying to go with a classier, more European style and brand image, it should slot in well (except for the 500 vs. 300 nomenclature issue--big number = smaller car?):
http://www.sfu.ca/~mjp16/Chrysler500.jpg
karmakid 8:36AM (1/22/2009)
Kudos to Chrysler... But will get any guff from ford over the name/monkier 500?
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Adam 8:45AM (1/22/2009)
Color me skeptical. What about the time/cost involved in meeting US emissions? None of the 500's engines are currently sold here, and I doubt you can just bring them over as is. Remember that the Smart was engineered to meet US standards from day one, not retrofitted. And selling a Fiat--or Abarth--in a Chrysler showroom? Unless they can pull off what Mini did and get a slice of real estate that's pure Italian in character, I'm not sure it'll fly. They'd have a better chance distributing it through Maserati dealers
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matthew 8:48AM (1/22/2009)
The 500 is priced 30% lower than the MINI Cooper in the UK.
I don't think Ford has rights to 500, they do have rights to Five Hundred though. Further, the 500 is on a shared platform with a Ford product, the Ka. So maybe the changed they make to it will allow the Ka to be brought to the US, has Mullally has stated he hopes for.
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Dazza 9:03AM (1/22/2009)
That's because the 500 and Mini are not direct competitors - the 500 is an A-segment (city car) hatch which uses the platform of the 2003 Fiat Panda. The Mini, on the other hand, is a larger B-segment (supermini) machine. The 2009 second-gen Ford Ka borrows the platform from Fiat, with a number of modifications to improve both handling and ride.
Although the 500 uses the numerical moniker, the actual name of the car is Italian - Cinquecento. Indeed, the old 1990's Cinquecento and subsequent Seicento used the written word for badging in all markets.
Americans do not tend to differentiate between the smaller vehicle segments, even though there's usually significant size and powerplant differences in the three European segments below the C-segment.
Mark 9:30AM (1/22/2009)
"Five Hundred" and "500" are the same thing in trademark. However, since "Five Hundred" is a term which would likely require a showing of secondary meaning, which the Ford Five Hundred would likely never be able to achieve, then there is no trademark issue. Fiat can use the 500 name in the United States.
Jamarr 8:52AM (1/22/2009)
Well I plan never ever to step foot in a Chrysler showroom so no 500 for me. Unless... They close up some of the excess Chrysler dealers that are located too closely and turn them into Fiat/Alfa showrooms. Now that's a brilliant idea. Hmmm... More money for Chrysler/Fiat too as these francises are sure to be worth some serious $$$.
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yacoub 8:56AM (1/22/2009)
sigh... you mean "Sorry Canada". Putting the comma in that makes it a correction of your previous statement. In other words, your headline reads that it's actually coming to Canada, not the US. And all because of that comma.
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