FIAT auto news

Topless Hotness: Fiat reportedly planning 500C Abarth cabrio

With the Fiat 500 still selling like hotcakes, the Italian automaker's performance division is reportedly working on a new combination to further bolster interest in the retro hatch. Melding the best elements of the 500 Abarth and the new 500C convertible, Fiat is said to be preparing a 500C Abarth for launch overseas in time for the next sunny season.

Porting over the engines from the fixed-roof 500 Abarth, the cabrio would be offered with the 133hp 1.4-liter turbo four, upgradable to 157hp with the optional Esse-esse kit. But while most convertibles loose their rigidity and gain weight when the top is lopped off, the 500C's unique roof rail structure keeps torsional twist at bay - to say nothing of the Cinquecento's iconic profile. Pricing would be competitive with the new Mini Cooper Cabrio, and with both the Abarth and convertible variants expected to appear Stateside by 2011, there's a good chance Fiat will throw this one into the mix, too.

Gallery: Geneva 2009: Fiat 500C

REPORT: Marchionne thinks Chrysler could go public in 30 months

Analysts have been wondering when Chrysler would go public, and new CEO Sergio Marchionne has an answer: not soon. Some have speculated that Chrysler shares would be available on the stock exchange by the end of 2010, but Automotive News is reporting that Marchionne is giving a timetable of "not sooner than 2½ years." Marchionne obviously wants to hold off on going public until he and Chrysler's board of directors feel the company will command the appropriate value.

Reporters also asked Marchionne in a conference call when he felt Chrysler would be profitable. The Fiat/Chrysler CEO pointed out that he didn't feel such speculation was a good idea considering the fact that Chrysler has yet to have a post-bankruptcy board meeting. Good point. Chrysler's board of directors will be meeting on July 29.

Marchionne did, however, say that Chrysler would "generate healthy profit margins" once US auto sales hit 13-14 million units per year; something he doesn't expect to happen before 2011.

Fiat reportedly to axe Bertone name if bid accepted

When you're dealing with a company as established and reputed as Bertone, the whole is much more than the sum of its parts. Apparently Fiat feels otherwise, as the rapidly expanding Italian auto giant eyes its latest target strictly for its assets.

According to a statement supposedly issued from the company's press office, if Fiat succeeds in its bid to acquire Bertone's contract manufacturing operations - currently in receivership following bankruptcy proceedings - it will not use the Bertone name and only absorb its Grugliasco assembly plant, along with its skilled workforce, into its corporate structure. Any inference from the Bertone takeover applied to Fiat's acquisition of Chrysler would of course be pure speculation, but the move would surely be good news for the recently separated Stile Bertone design studio responsible for the Mantide concept.

Gallery: 2007 Bertone Fiat Barchetta

Fiat launches pricy new special-edition 500 Abarth Competizione

Cars may be getting smaller, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily getting cheaper. As if to prove that point, Fiat has thumbed its nose at the Tata Nano with a special 500 that packs a big price tag in a small package.

Commemorating the first anniversary of Abarth's return to the Dutch market, Fiat's performance division has launched this special-edition 500 Abarth Competizione. It costs nearly $35k and only ten will be made available for exclusive consumption in Holland. The €3,000 premium (nearly $4,200 USD) over the stock 500 Abarth gets enthusiastic buyers a special little hot hatch with a black roof, black 17-inch alloys and matching black graphics, along with special bucket seats inside. The 500 Abarth Competizione also comes equipped with sat-nav, air-con and a premium audio system. Although the Competizione edition packs the 135hp turbo four, buyers can always upgrade with the 160hp EsseEsse kit. For a premium, of course.

Gallery: Fiat 500 Abarth Competizione

Fiat back in the mix as Bertone manufacturing unit goes up for sale

You could say that Fiat's on a bit of a spending spree lately. While everyone else is struggling to trim expenditures and sell off divisions, Fiat's been buying them up. So after moving in at Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and making offers for GM's European and Latin American operations - including Opel and Vauxhall - it should come as no surprise that the Italian automaker is at it again, this time placing a non-binding offer to acquire Carrozzeria Bertone.

The offer is one of five currently being entertained by Italy's oldest coachbuilder and the courts administering its bankruptcy. Among other bidders reported are Domenico Reviglio (the Gruppo Prototipo chief who was slated to buy the company last year), former Lancia CEO Gianmario Rossignolo, Chinese automaker FAW and an additional unspecified Spanish concern. It is also not the first time Fiat considered rescuing Bertone after a previous attempt failed over two years ago.

Although the reports remain somewhat ambiguous, it appears that the unit in question is only the contract manufacturing division Carrozzeria Bertone SpA, a separate unit from the Stile Bertone design house under the Gruppo Bertone umbrella.

Gallery: Bertone Mantide

Elle Macpherson gets topless at Fiat 500C launch [w/VIDEO]

Fiat held a glitzy launch for the convertible version of its super hot supermini at the Whisky Mist in London the other night and swimsuit supermodel Elle Macpherson was the first in the UK to go topless, getting her very own 500C. We're told the Australian-born model and actress received the keys to the latest iteration of the Italian-built model outside her Notting Hill home and was soon overheard telling a friend how cool and sexy she thought it was. Of course, Elle knows all about cool and sexy Fiat 500s, having previously owned the original hard top version.

Other convertible-celebrating celebrities up in da club with Edoardo Agnelli, the nephew of Fiat's co-founder, included Tesla Roadster buyer and Black-Eyed Peas guy will.I.am and Sugababes' Amelle. Feel free to check out the gallery below of Elle's famous friends posing with her new ride. Americans lusting after a topless model for themselves may have to wait until 2011 before they are able to satisfy their desire. Hit the jump for a couple bonus vids of the 500C in action and the official UK launch press release.

Gallery: Fiat 500C UK launch

Continue reading Elle Macpherson gets topless at Fiat 500C launch [w/VIDEO]

Elle Macpherson gets topless at Fiat 500C launch

Fiat held a glitzy launch for the convertible version of its super hot supermini at the Whisky Mist in London the other night and swimsuit supermodel Elle Macpherson was the first in the UK to go topless, getting her very own 500C. We're told the Australian-born model and actress received the keys to the latest iteration of the Italian-built model outside her Notting Hill home and was soon overheard telling a friend how cool and sexy she thought it was. Of course, Elle knows all about cool and sexy Fiat 500s, having previously owned the original hard top version.

Other convertible-celebrating celebrities up in da club with Edoardo Agnelli, the nephew of Fiat's co-founder, included Tesla Roadster buyer and Black-Eyed Peas guy will.I.am and Sugababes' Amelle. Feel free to check out the gallery below of Elle's famous friends posing with her new ride. Americans lusting after a topless model for themselves may have to wait until 2011 before they are able to satisfy their desire. Hit the jump for a couple bonus vids of the 500C in action and the official UK launch press release.

Gallery: Fiat 500C UK launch

Continue reading Elle Macpherson gets topless at Fiat 500C launch

Fiat tempts Latin American and European audiences with Strada Cabine Dupla pickup

For European and South American markets, Fiat rolled out several versions of its Strada pickup last year. Now, the Italian company introduces a "dual cab" version with two extra back seats - but without two extra doors. Called the Cabine Dupla or Doble Cabina, it's almost as if our long-departed Subaru Brat lives on with a secret Italian identity... and without its four-wheel-drive. The Cabine Dupla has an electronic diff that ought to be passable when things get a little dirty. Our question is: Could this be a future Dodge?

Gallery: Fiat Strada Doble Cabina

Gallery: Fiat Strada Adventure Locker

Gallery: Fiat Strada Trekking 2009

PETA Alert: Fiat underscores eco-friendliness using unique advertising campaign

We've seen some pretty cool advertising in our time, but a new European marketing campaign from Fiat is surely one of the more memorable efforts from an automaker in recent memory. In an effort to underscore the safety of its diminutive 500 - both to its occupants and the animals we share our planet with - the Italian automaker has unleashed a new series of images depicting the retro hatchback in various crash test scenarios.

The interesting part comes from the car's occupants, which includes a panda bear, a walrus (goo goo g'joob) and a couple of penguins. Equally as clever is the tagline, "Engineered for a lower impact on the environment," after which the ad reminds the viewer that Fiat - with 133.7 grams of C02 per kilometer on average - is the brand with the lowest carbon emissions in all of Europe.

Gallery: European Fiat advertising campaign

Pics Aplenty +Video: Fiat 500 Cabrio introduced at global sales milestone

With the rampant acquisition streak Fiat's embarked on, the Italian automaker has clearly emerged as a power-broker in the global automotive industry. The auto group has always been strongest in its home market, but with the ink on the Chrysler deal still wet and more mergers and acquisitions looming on the horizon, Fiat has reached a new milestone: for the first time in the company's history, it's sold more of one model outside of Italy than within.

The model in question, it should come as no great surprise, is the 500, with 54% of sales currently take place outside its home market. The retro hatchback has been selling like hotcakes in every locale it's been introduced, and is slated to come Stateside within a couple of years.

The announcement of the 500's international sales success came at the market introduction of its convertible version, the 500 C, which goes on sale next month in Italy, France and the UK, with more markets to follow. We've loaded a whole new crop of high-resolution images into the gallery below, and posted a video after the jump to satiate all your quaint Italian cabrio fantasies, so enjoy.

Gallery: Fiat 500C

Continue reading Pics Aplenty +Video: Fiat 500 Cabrio introduced at global sales milestone