FIAT News
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It hasn't been easy being a Fiat fan in the U.S. these last, oh, 20 or 30 years. Sneers of "Fix It Again, Tony!" due to rusty and unreliable cars were followed by Fiat fleeing the U.S. market in 1983 with its tail tucked between its legs. But now, with the imminent debut of the 2011 Fiat 500 late this year, the company wants to reward all those diehard Fiat owners. They, and only they, will be offered the chance to reserve one of 500 'Prima Edizione' models--and even select the model build number. Fiat made the announcement this weekend at the annual convention of Club Fiat-Lancia...
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Fiat 500 Gets Two-Cylinder Engine In Europe, U.S. Arrival UnlikelyEuropeans fans of the Fiat 500 will soon be able to opt for what the automaker is claiming to be the world's most fuel-efficient gasoline engine, a tiny two-cylinder engine displacing just 0.9-liters. It will be launched in European versions of the 500 and 500C convertible this September but...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Snapped on the Street: Fiat 500 Electric Car Visits Palo Alto
The great thing about having your company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, is that you never quite know what you'll see on the street. There are lots of expensive cars like BMWs and Bentleys floating around. There are also a disproportionate number of Tesla Roadsters, since the company is...
John Voelcker -
2011 Fiat 500 Four-Door Model Being Developed for U.S. Sales
Regular readers know we're eagerly awaiting the U.S. arrival of the 2011 Fiat 500 mini-car, the very first fruits of Chrysler's takeover by Italian maker Fiat. Now it looks like yet another variant may join the range of Fiat 500 models in U.S. showrooms. Auto-industry trade journal Automotive News...
John Voelcker -
Chrysler To Build All-Electric Version of Fiat 500 for U.S. Market
Much mystery surrounded the electric versions of the Fiat 500 that have appeared at auto shows over the last year. Now, Chrysler has cleared up a bit of the confusion: It will build an electric Fiat 500 for the U.S. market, with a powertrain developed by engineers at its Michigan headquarters, at a...
John Voelcker -
Diesel Designs Diesel Fiat 500 For Geneva 2010
The Little Italian Car Goes For Big Style
Jonathan McGrew -
As we keep saying, one of the ways that automakers will meet more stringent fuel economy regulations is by making smaller engines that work harder. Now Fiat has one-upped its European competition by announcing it will offer a 900cc turbocharged twin in European models of its Fiat 500 mini-car. That engine won't be fitted to the 2011 Fiat 500 to be offered in the U.S. at the end of the year; it will use a 1.4-liter four. Fiat and Tata only The tiny new engine, to be called TwinAir (but unrelated to the global air-filter company also called TwinAir), helps Fiat meet increasingly stringent...
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2011 Fiat 500 Mini-Car On Sale By End of Year, Chrysler Says
Well, here's some good news: We have less than a year to wait before the neat little Fiat 500 hatchback goes on sale at selected Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealers. When it arrives, it'll be Chrysler's greenest car by a pretty big margin. EPA fuel efficiency ratings haven't yet been issued for the...
John Voelcker -
2010 Detroit Auto Show: 2013 Chevrolet Spark
Yesterday's Chevrolet press conference at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show was a pretty muted affair. While Chevy unveiled one concept car--the Aveo RS--the photos and details had been released several days before, so there seemed to be little real news. The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze was also there, but it...
John Voelcker -
Detroit Auto Show Preview: Electric Fiat 500 Mini-Car
An electric Fiat 500 has been rumored for several months now, including before the lengthy October press conference where Chrysler laid out its survival plan. But now, it appears that Chrysler will show an electric Fiat 500 mini-car as one of two concepts it will have on display at next month's...
John Voelcker -
Chrysler set to Unveil Electric Fiat 500
Prior to going into government sponsored bankruptcy, Chrysler had displayed several electric car concepts including a 200C extended range electric vehicle and a 2 seat electric roadster. Since re-emerging as property of Italy's Fiat corp, plans for those Chrysler electric cars have been in limbo...
Lyle Dennis -
What Is Cute, Sporty and Italian? The Answer: A Fiat 500
Fiat Starts to Reveal Plans For the Troubled Chrysler Name Plate
Jonathan McGrew -
Much of the auto world is waiting eagerly for Wednesday, November 4. That's when Chrysler will release the detailed product and business plan that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne promises will take the company to profitability within two years. Now comes the rumor that the two companies plan to build an electric car together. And much of the discussion centers around an electric version of the upcoming 2011 Fiat 500 mini-car, which will be built at a Chrysler plant in Mexico in little more than a year. But many commentators don't realize that such a car has existed for more than a year, at least...
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Fiat and Chrysler Reportedly Working Together on EV
Chrysler's ENVI electric vehicle program has spawned several possible vehicles that may one day reach showrooms. However, the automaker has gone silent in regard to any upcoming EV projects leading speculators to believe that the program may be dead in the water. All is about to change though as...
Eric Loveday -
Cute AND Clever: Chrysler's Coming Green Innovations
Chrysler's on the skids right now, no doubt about it. June sales plummeted 42 percent, and some consider its takeover by--errr, sorry, partnership with--Italy's Fiat to be the blind leading the lame. But Fiat is far from the company it was 20 years ago, when it folded its tents and snuck out of the...
John Voelcker
