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Pics Aplenty: More Fiat 500L images, details divulged

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After first revealing its new baby at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Fiat has finally served up more information and images on its upcoming 500L. Spanning 13.6 feet from tip to tail, the Italian automaker says there's room for five full-grown adults inside along with room for their luggage, thanks in part to a rear bench that can slide fore and aft as need be. All told, there's a bit more than 14.1 cubic feet of cargo area out back, which bests the Mini Countryman by nearly two cubic feet. With the second row seats stowed and the front passenger seat folded forward, the 500L can also transport material just shy of eight-feet long.

In Europe, buyers will be able to chose between two gasoline engine options: a turbocharged 0.9-liter two-cylinder good for 105 horsepower or a 95-horsepower 1.4-liter four-cylinder. An 85-horsepower 1.3-liter turbodiesel will also be available. Later, Fiat plans to introduce a version of the two-cylinder designed to run on methane.

The Fiat 500L will be produced in Serbia and will be available with options including UConnect with a five-inch screen, a glass roof that covers five square feet and 11 different body colors. No word yet on a U.S. on-sale date, but we do expect the plus-sized Cinquecento to make it to our market, awkward looks and all. Check out the full press release below.
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Fiat 500L, Cool & Capable

Large: functional space
Light: altruistic technology
Loft: personal size
Range (Italian market)
Technical specifications
Production at the Kragujevac (Serbia) plant

Precisely five years after the presentation of the Fiat 500 and 55 years after the début of the historic 500, the Fiat 500L will debut - again in Turin - on 4 July 2012. It is the new chapter of the Italian icon that follows the Abarth and Cabrio versions.

The 500L combines the iconic nature of the 500 style with the functionality of Fiat's design. Expanded on the concept of 'space efficiency', the new model defies the conventional distinctions owing to its MPV passenger space, the feel of a small SUV on the road and levels of efficiency typical of a compact car. By following this novel recipe, the Fiat 500L combines characteristics peculiar to different classes to offer a concept of distinctive and versatile first car that is an alternative to the traditional saloons of the B and C segments.

After more than 800,000 cars have been sold in 110 countries worldwide, today the 500 has grown up to accommodate new experiences and needs once more. If the 500 is the super-compact car perfect for young people and the city, the Fiat 500L is the first car of the 500 family able to contain the small pleasures and life's greatest emotions all together: children, friends, journeys, music and community.

The 500L is totally new in the way it expresses its styling individuality, communicates with the outside world and opens its doors to a new on-board experience. The letter 'L' sums up the three dimensions enclosed in the new Fiat solution: Large, meant as functionality and space; Light, when 'lightness' means user-friendly technology and eco-friendliness; and Loft, a trend-setting environment where one can live life to the fullest.

The Fiat 500L can be ordered in Italy and on the major European markets starting from July. The commercial launch is scheduled in Italy with an Open Day on the first weekend in October, to then progressively expand to all the other markets. Altogether, during 2013 the Fiat 500L will go on sale in more than 100 countries around the world, including the United States.

Large: efficient space

The 500L expresses the taste of Italian style with a distinctive look and interprets the peculiar Fiat capability of conceiving and designing cars which are innovative in substance and in form. Substance turns into the 'space efficiency' concept that distinguishes all of the most innovative Fiats in history. Just as the 600 Multipla was the forerunner of the concept of compact people carrier, the 500L is the new Fiat interpretation of the Simply More philosophy applied to the 'Multispace' concept. The 500L reformulates the category of compact cars for the modern family in an emotional vein by developing some of the 500's stylistic details in unprecedented forms.

According to the latest research, 4.1 metres is the average length of cars sold in Europe. It is a standard size that allows you to travel and easily move around in traffic. The Fiat 500L is 4 metres and 15 centimetres long. But its real competitive advantage is that with only 7 cm more than a Fiat Punto, the Fiat 500L easily accommodates five passengers 2 meters tall with their five suitcases without ever compromising passenger room. Suffice it to say that the Fiat 500L boasts the best passenger volume index in the segment: with front and rear volumes combined, passengers have a space of 3.17 cubic metres available.

The new model is leader in its category in terms of ratio between external dimensions - 415 cm long, 178 cm wide, 166 cm high and 261 cm wheelbase - and interior space understood both as passenger compartment and luggage compartment, which boasts a capacity of almost 400 litres, which means being able to transport up to five roller suitcases. The rear seats are longitudinally adjustable and separately folding to further increase rear passenger comfort. Then thanks to the 'Fold&Tumble' function it is also possible to completely tilt the rear seat forwards to get a totally flat load compartment.

The Fiat 500L is then Large also in terms of functionality, as the 1,500 possible configurations of the interior space demonstrate. For example, the customer can easily transport any material up to 2.4 metres long by folding the front passenger seat and only one rear seat forward. Even if you have to use the passenger seat equipped with "table" adjustment, you can fold it forward to get a complete support surface.

Regarding exterior dimensions, its load capacity is the best of its category. Cargo Magic Space, adjustable in three levels, is also in the luggage compartment so you can separate fragile objects from heavy ones, clean objects from dirty ones, and wet objects from dry ones.

Light: altruistic technology

L also stands for Light meant as that 'lightness' feeling that improves and simplifies the quality of life, that innovation that is not an end in itself, but always to man's benefit. Besides, Fiat has always been a byword for innovative cars that offer sophisticated technological solutions which are nonetheless straightforward to use and satisfy both the concrete needs of everyday mobility as well as the growing social awareness of others, the environment and safety issues.

At launch, the Fiat 500L will propose three efficient engines distinguished by their lower polluting emissions and CO2 levels, corresponding to real economic benefit in everyday use for the customer: two petrol (105 HP 0.9 TwinAir and 95 HP 1.4 litres) engines and one turbodiesel (85 HP 1.3 MultiJet 2) engine. In particular, the 105 HP Turbo TwinAir engine boasts record-breaking emissions in its segment of only 112 g/km. The new development of the multi-award-winning Fiat two-cylinder engine, the TwinAir is at the top of the segment in terms of fuel consumption and emissions thanks to its low displacement and inclusion of a high-efficiency turbocharger.

Furthermore, starting next year, the 500L will be even more 'eco-friendly' due to the cleanest fuel available today: methane. Natural Power will debut in 2013 on the Turbo TwinAir engine. It combines - in a single product - the cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness of the methane fuel system with the power of the Turbo TwinAir.

Light also is the simplicity of use of the on-board technology of the new car. An example? The 5" touchscreen of the 500L UConnect multimedia system, one of the largest of its class, lets you manage all the major media content of the car such as radio, mobile phone, Media Player, iPod or smartphone, all rigorously wireless. Integrated navigation will also be offered in the near future. It is an excellent example of the 'human-friendly' interfaces by Fiat that have been properly simplified so you are always connected easier and immediately.

The new UConnect system lets you listen to classic or preferred radio through your smartphone. With it, you can make calls hands-free and listen to incoming SMS messages without taking your hands off the steering wheel thanks to the voice recognition function and the controls on the steering wheel. A future development will also let the customer - through smartphone integration - use many apps on the on-board system in order to always be in contact with Facebook and Twitter friends or be updated in real time on traffic, news and weather.

It is also possible to view all the information supplied by the brand new eco:Drive LIVE software on the 5" touchscreen in real time. The software is the latest evolution of the eco-friendly application developed by Fiat in 2009. .Today there are over 80,000 eco:Drive users. The system can analyse your driving style thanks to the data collected on the car and provide personalised suggestions in order to reduce up to 16% of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. With the 500L eco:Drive becomes LIVE, meaning you can receive feedback about your driving style in real time, thus attaining immediate fuel consumption and emission reductions. It is also possible to save the data of every journey on a compatible USB memory stick and smartphone. By analysing the results on a PC and receiving tailored driving lessons, emissions can be reduced up to 16%.

Loft: personal size

Loft is a contemporary, wide, open and luminous dimension. Just like the new 500L that has been imagined and produced in the same way as a beautiful and functional design house. Designed by the Centro Stile Fiat which drew inspiration from the cab forward concept, the modern reinterpretation of a car concept designed to achieve greater external visibility and a large amount of internal light, the 500L has 360° glazing to ensure that its visibility is the best of class in addition to increasing the sense of command of the road and to make parking manoeuvres easier.

The glass roof - the largest in its category with a size of 1.5 square metres - floods the passenger compartment with plenty of light. It is available in two versions: electric roof or Skydome. Also the colour range, with no less than 11 body colours, is record-breaking for its segment. You get to have 333 possible combinations if 3 different roof colours, 4 trim levels (Pop, Pop Star, Easy and Lounge) and 3 alloy rim colours are added.

Turning your car into a unique and personalised object. With this goal in mind, the Lineaccessori for the new 500L designed by the Centro Stile Fiat and produced by Mopar was created. It is the brand of the Group dedicated to the Service & Parts activities and Customer Care operations. More than 140 products increase comfort and improve enjoyment of leisure activities and the quality of life on board.

Just like you would expect from a home Hi-Fi system, for the first time in the Fiat Group the Fiat 500L offers a new premium sound system developed in collaboration with Beats Audio. The system exploits an advanced equalizer algorithm, creating a high definition and clean sound that the Beats founders (the artist and record producer Dr. Dre, the Interscope Geffen A&M Records chairman and record producer Jimmy Iovine) require in their recording studios.

Finally, another world premiere is the brand new coffee machine created in collaboration with Lavazza. The 500L is the first standard-production car in the world to offer a true espresso coffee machine that utilises the technology of the 'A Modo Mio' pods. It is perfectly integrated in the car with a deck designed expressly by Fiat.

Production

The Fiat 500L is produced at the Kragujevac (Serbia) plant, inaugurated last April after three years of intense and continuous work carried out to upgrade the infrastructures and restore the buildings, with new roof coverings, new production departments, reclamation of lands and installation of advanced machinery and production systems. Over 1 billion Euros have been invested from 2010 to today, in addition to Fiat's best professional resources. Every day 2500 workers and suppliers took part in the plant's reconstruction. In addition, 1,100,000 hours of staff training were provided to create a new industrial culture. The new Kragujevac plant production capacity exceeds 700 cars per day thanks to the new design and structure.

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