Fiat 500 in UK

When the new Fiat 500 goes on sale in the UK on 21 January 2008, it will be exactly 500 hours after the start of the New Year.

Designed by Fiat Centro Stile, the new car’s chic styling boasts visual cues from the past, but it is far from a simple, nostalgic interpretation of Dante Giacosa’s iconic Fiat 500 of July 1957.

Taking a quantum leap forward in terms of safety, technology, comfort and equipment for this segment, it represents a company blueprint for a future which embraces a modern approach, new brand strategies, radical innovations in customer relations and a lasting process of expansion.

Significantly, the highly innovative Fiat 500 brings several unprecedented attributes to this segment for the first time: The new Fiat has been awarded a maximum 5-star rating in the gruelling Euro NCAP crash test safety programme, placing it at the very top of its category in terms of passive, active and preventive safety. This is the first time that a car of such compact dimensions, (3.5 metres in length), has achieved a maximum rating, and the first time that a car of its type has been equipped with seven airbags as standard across the entire range.

The new Fiat 500 is also the first car to be launched with a full range of frugal, low emissions engines that are not only Euro 4 compliant, but also meet emissions limits which are expected to be set by forthcoming Euro 5 standards, more than two years before the legislative deadline.

These and other attributes have already been recognised and rewarded with prestigious international awards, including Car of the Year 2008, which is bestowed by 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries.

Nine versions of the new 500, priced from £7900-£10,700 on-the-road, go on sale in the UK at launch, embracing three trim levels – Pop, Lounge and Sport. The new Fiat offers levels of equipment more usually associated with cars of a far higher segment, with ABS anti-lock braking, remote central locking, seven airbags, electric front windows and door mirrors, an MP3-compatible CD player and Dualdrive electric power steering fitted as standard even on entry level models.

The new Fiat 500’s comprehensive standard equipment package is further enhanced by a range of innovative, safety and comfort-enhancing options such as automatic climate control, a SkyDome sunroof, parking sensors, an anti-glare electro-chromatic rear mirror, an Interscope Sound System Hi-Fi and Blue&Me mobile phone and MP3 player connectivity with steering wheel controls.

Moreover, the Fiat 500 personalisation programme offers an additional range of over 100 bespoke accessories which, generating more than 500,000 possible trim, colour and option combinations, gives owners the opportunity to personalise the new Fiat to levels unprecedented in this segment.

The new Fiat 500 goes on sale with a choice of three powerplants; the latest 75 bhp derivation of Fiat Group Automobiles’ widely acclaimed, state-of-the-art 1.3 litre 16-valve MultiJet turbodiesel, and two refined and economical FIRE petrol engines – a 1.2 litre 8-valve 69 bhp unit, and a spirited 100 bhp version of the 1.4 litre 16-valve powerplant.

Both 1.2 litre petrol engine and 1.3 litre turbodiesel come with 5-speed manual gearboxes, while the 1.4 litre petrol unit is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. Dualogic – a clutchless, 5-speed sequential manual shift with a selectable fully automatic mode – is offered as an optional transmission on all petrol-engined Fiat 500 models.

With a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating to its name, the new Fiat 500 builds on an already impressive safety portfolio with the full range of braking, traction control and stability systems available on the market today: ABS anti-lock brakes, complete with electronic brakeforce distribution, ASR to limit wheel spin during acceleration, MSR to modulate brake torque while changing down, and a sophisticated ESP to control stability through bends. Vehicles fitted with ESP – standard equipment on 1.4 litre versions – also benefit from hydraulic brake assistance and a unique Hill Holder function to facilitate smooth hill starts.

Building on Fiat's unrivalled reputation as the world's pre-eminent small car specialists, the new Fiat 500 was created in just 18 months from completed production specification to launch.

To achieve this remarkable development time, Fiat Group Automobiles employed new, groundbreaking, state-of-the-art Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) systems of unprecedented power and complexity. So sophisticated is the computer software involved, that not only could Fiat’s engineers simulate every aspect of the new 500’s structural, dynamic, NVH and accommodation characteristics to a level of unprecedented detail, but they were also able to create a virtual production-line to ensure consistently outstanding component and build quality.

The benefits of these all-encompassing developments in virtual design and engineering are clearly evident in every aspect of the new Fiat 500, from unprecedented build quality and capacious passenger accommodation, to superior driving dynamics, minimal NVH levels and, of course, outstanding safety. In recognition of its high quality construction, the new Fiat 500 recently won the world’s most prestigious prize for car bodies.

Fiat 500 on the awards trail
It’s attracted critical acclaim, created astonishing interest and stoked up colossal passion… and now the new Fiat 500 is racking up the honours.

Good looks, superb design, safety, drive quality, versatility, fun and sheer desirability – these are just some of the attributes which judges from journalist groups, TV shows, specialist magazines and evaluation juries across Europe have cited as their reasons for putting the Fiat 500 first when it comes to 2007’s new cars.

Just six months after the international launch of the new Fiat 500, its list of top honours already makes impressive reading – and there are more to come.

Among the most important and influential crowns already awarded to the Fiat 500 last year (2007) are:

Car of the Year 2008: the major European award, presided over by 58 specialist international journalists from 22 countries. The 500 was a clear winner in this year’s prestigious competition

Auto Europa 2008: voted by the Italian Union of Automotive Journalists (UIGA). This is the most important accolade awarded by the Italian specialist press

EuroCarBody 2007: the world’s most prestigious prize for car bodies. Six hundred experts voted for their winner

Auto Trophy: votes from German magazine Auto Zeitung’s readers are collected across a huge range of car sectors

L’Automobile piu bella del Mondo: an international jury – leading artists, designers and editors – elect the best cars for the year (2007). The new 500 is best ‘City Car and Compact’

Fifth Gear Best Small Car of the Year: popular UK motoring TV show voted the new Fiat 500 its best small car for 2008

CAR Car of the Year: leading UK monthly motoring magazine gave the new Fiat 500 its top marks

BBC Top Gear Awards 07: City Car. Sales-leading UK monthly motoring magazine makes the new 500 its top town transport.