Fiat dealers in America are unsurprisingly finding it difficult to turn a profit by selling just a subcompact, and are hoping that the new products hitting the US will help boost sales. Continue Reading…
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Confirming plans by Fiat to grow the brand by growing the size of its products, a photo of the Fiat 500 XL has leaked onto the net.
Fiat has reached a milestone with its 500 model, producing the one millionth unit at the Tychy factory on April 19.
Fiat has announced pricing for the 2013 500e, with MSRP set at $32,500 while leasing is available at just $199 a month for 36 months with $999 due at signing.
Fiat finally unveiled its electric car during last year’s L.A. Auto Show and when it goes on sale in California this summer it will come with a free alternative vehicle.
Because Creativity is Overrated
What’s the most important step a manufacturer undertakes when creating a new car? Building a great chassis? Getting the interior ergonomics right? Providing the perfect drivetrain to complement the new product? Nope. All wrong. The really, really important factor for any new car is getting the name right.
All joking aside, a vehicle’s name is very important. Slap a clever name on a car and it can help boost sales. Conversely, choose a bad name for a vehicle, like Probe or Dictator, and it can hurt sales. Manufacturers spend a lot of time and money analyzing potential model names.
Well, that’s usually what happens, but sometimes, the creativity well runs dry. Every now and then a new vehicle receives a name that leaves us all wondering: “Really? That’s all they could think of?” Not to get confused with naming conventions that are just lazy, like Mazda’s numbered sequence or Mercedes-Benz’s lettered sequence. No, we are referring to model names that give the perception maybe the marketing team forgot to show up one day and the engineers were left in charge of naming the new ride. “We are pleased to announce the latest from Hyonbaru Motors, ‘The Car!” Don’t laugh, some the following models are even worse.
A Chrysler Group executive has said that Fiat dealerships meeting sales and customer service goals will be the first to get the Alfa Romeo 4C when it goes on sale in America.
Chrysler believes that Alfa Romeo, once brought back to the U.S., will eventually outsell the Fiat brand in America.
The upcoming Maserati Levante SUV will not be produced in Detroit as previously announced. Instead one of Fiat’s plants in Turin, Italy will be making the new luxury SUV.
Fiat is looking into building a low-cost brand that would rival Nissan-Renault’s Dacia, according to CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Chrysler’s exclusive attitude about which dealers will be allowed to sell the SRT Viper doesn’t seem to have thinned the lineup for certification much. In fact, the roster is almost full.
There will be at least 10 nameplates available in North America between the Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands for North American buyers by 2016.
Jeep’s new Fiat-based small crossover set to replace the Liberty will likely debut in March during the New York Auto Show.
Fiat has unveiled two design studies that will make their official debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show tomorrow.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rated the 2013 Fiat 500e at 122 MPGe in the city and 108 MPGe on the highway, giving the electric Fiat a combined rating of 116 MPGe.
A Volkswagen official insisted in an email exchange with AutoGuide.com last month that the Chrysler-based Routan van hadn’t been killed.
The number-crunchers have been earning their keep the last few weeks. With their mathematical weapon of choice in hand, be it a calculator, tally counter or even a trusty abacus, they’ve kept an exacting total of how many vehicles automakers sold over the past 12 months. How did things shake out? Which brand nearly doubled its sales for the year?
Thankfully the world didn’t end last month like Mayan soothsayers erroneously predicted centuries ago. Clearly prophecy wasn’t their major at Yucatan Community College. From an automotive perspective, the year-end news was quite good, with the Detroit Three each posting modest gains.
To celebrate the lives of the mothers who will drive them, Fiat has just released a music video entitled “The Motherhood’ feat. Fiat 500L,” which the brand says is “dedicated to all those women who have to be all things to all people and live it large on a daily basis.”
Maserati is hoping its new Quattroporte will help bring the brand’s annual sales to 50,000 units annually, with Italian automaker setting a sales target of at least 13,000 for the next-gen car for next year.
Interested in a Fiat or Chrysler and currently driving around in a Volkswagen? The automaker is now offering a $1,000 rebate to current VW owners in America if they wish to buy a Fiat or Chrysler vehicle.