Report: Fiat readying all-new B-segment four-door for U.S. by 2013

Now that Fiat has finally launched the 500 here in the United States, it's time to start looking ahead. The automaker has already said that it will offer two other versions of the diminutive hatch – a high-performance Abarth-badged variant as well as a battery-electric vehicle – and now Fiat has disclosed that it is planning to create an all-new B-segment car specifically designed for the U.S.

Motor Trend reports that the new B-car, dubbed Project L-Zero internally, is expected to arrive sometime during 2013. Fiat has not specified whether the new car will be a four-door sedan or five-door hatchback, nor did the automaker say if the B-segment vehicle would be sold in markets outside of the United States.

In talking to Motor Trend, Fiat North America's Laura Soave said that the automaker will not stray from its roots as a small car company. With Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep offering a bounty of larger vehicles, and with Alfa Romeo planning a return to the States, Soave told MT that Fiat would "likely never build anything larger than a C-segment car for the U.S." Earlier reports suggested that Fiat was working on a five-door 500 specifically for consumption here in the U.S., but with the automaker branding Project L-Zero as something "all-new," we'll have to wait and see exactly what's in store for 2013.

[Source: Motor Trend | Image: Steven J. Ewing/AOL]

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