2012 Fiat 500: GreenCarReports Best Car To Buy 2012 Nominee

It was a smash hit in Europe, where it went on sale in 2007. Now, it's reached the U.S.--and, boy, does it get attention.

Driving a 2012 Fiat 500 guarantees stares, questions, and thumbs-up pretty much wherever you go. Perhaps no new car since the arrival of the MINI in 2001 has caused such a stir.

Powered by a 101-horsepower, 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine--built in Dundee, Michigan--the Fiat 500 minicar is the first of several Fiat and Alfa-Romeo models to arrive in the States, courtesy of Fiat's takeover of the bankrupt Chrysler Corporation in a government-sponsored marriage in 2009.

The little Fiat comes as a three-door hatchback, a two-door 500C Cabriolet with a roll-back cloth roof, and soon a 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth hot-hatch model with 170 hp (launched last week at the Los Angeles Auto Show).

Ratings for the Abarth haven't yet been released, but the EPA rates the 500 hatchback at 30 mpg city, 38 mpg highway with the five-speed manual transmission, and 27 city, 34 highway with the six-speed automatic. The 500C Cabrio model, offered only with the automatic, comes in at 27 mpg city, 32 mpg highway.

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Next Fiat 500 Minicar: Abarth 'Hot Hatch' Sports Version

This time, it's not about cute.

In less than a month, Fiat will unveil the next model of its 500 minicar at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth will be the 'hot hatch' model, with actual performance upgrades for better acceleration, braking, and handling. The current Fiat 500 Sport model combines suspension modification with some unique trim, but has no powertrain changes.

The Abarth name is legendary among Italian car fans, and could be considered roughly the equivalent of "Cooper" for the British Mini line. Abarth was originally an Italian tuning shop that also built low-volume cars; it's now become a  factory brand.

Abarths can be recognized by their scorpion graphics, signifying lots of sting packed inside tiny vehicles. Or as founder Karl Abarth said half a century ago: "small, but wicked."

The 2012 Abarth model will add a turbocharger to the 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine used in all North American 500s, along with a six-speed manual gearbox. Fiat hasn't given output specs yet, but they'll likely be close to the European figures of 135 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque.

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Fiat 500 earns top crash-test scores

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Fiat 500, a minicar anchoring the Italian automaker's return to the United States via Chrysler, today received a top rating from an influential safety group.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said the 2012 500 Sport two-door had earned good marks for front, side rollover and rear crash evaluations.

Results reflect performance in crashes that would occur with similar-sized vehicles. The only other mini car to earn similar scores was Ford Motor Co's Fiesta.

The top score for front crash resistance was earned during a retest in August after Fiat/Chrysler modified front seating to make it more secure, the IIHS said.

Chrysler is counting on the hatchback 500 and other fuel-efficient vehicles to revive its lineup, which is dominated by pickups and other light trucks.

The IIHS assesses a range of models each year. Underwritten by the insurance industry, the institute's ratings are closely followed by automakers, consumer groups and safety regulators.

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U.S. automaker due to outpace Fiat's operating profit by 87% in second half Chrysler's makeover helps Fiat as European debt crisis bites

MILAN/DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- Sergio Marchionne had what he called a "once in a lifetime" moment in 2009 when President Barack Obama selected Fiat S.p.A. to save Chrysler Group.

As CEO of both automakers, Marchionne may now be having flashbacks as the Italian automaker now comes to depend on Chrysler.

The previously bankrupt U.S. company, which became majority owned by Fiat this year, is now helping to support its parent, as the European debt crisis depresses sales.

Chrysler is due to outpace Fiat's operating profit by 87 percent in the second half and the gap will likely continue in 2012, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

"Fiat would be very vulnerable now without Chrysler, with few industrial and financial options on its hands," said Emanuele Vizzini, chief investment officer at Investitori Sgr in Milan.

While the revitalization of Chrysler offers Fiat a cushion for Italy's downturn, Marchionne's turnaround of the U.S. company has deepened Fiat's troubles in Europe.

With the U.S. unit taking the majority of available development and management resources, Fiat has been left with aging models and eroding market share, putting Italy's largest manufacturer at the mercy of historically volatile Chrysler earnings.

"Long-term, neither Fiat nor Chrysler would have made it on their own," Marchionne said on Oct. 7 in Montreal. "Fiat was too small and too handicapped by an inadequate business model in Europe to have any hope of a future."

Profit predictions

Chrysler may post earnings before interest, taxes and one- time items, of 864 million euros ($1.18 billion) in the second half of 2011, compared with 462 million euros from Fiat's traditional operations, including profit from the Ferrari and Maserati brands, according to the average estimates of six analysts.

Trading profit for Chrysler, which was consolidated into Fiat results from June, may reach 1.91 billion euros next year, 77 percent more than Fiat's 1.08 billion euros. The turnaround at Chrysler hasn't helped Marchionne win over investors to his plan to create a global auto group to rival Volkswagen AG. The shares have fallen 40 percent in the last three months, the second-worst performer in the Bloomberg European autos index after France's PSA/Peugeot-Citroen.

"If Fiat is depending upon Chrysler, that's a bad bet because Chrysler is still a question mark," said Gerald Meyers, a business professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It will be two to three years before we know whether Chrysler is going to even be successful, much less sustainable."

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Fiat will build a 'baby' Jeep and Fiat derivative in Italy

TURIN -- Fiat will build a "baby" Jeep in Italy to sell in Europe and possibly also the United States, two company sources told Automotive News Europe.

The Jeep will be smaller than the brand's current entry SUVs, the Patriot and Compass. The model will be produced in Fiat's home plant of Mirafiori in Turin, alongside a similar vehicle for Fiat brand that will replace the Sedici and an Alfa Romeo subcompact car for sale in Europe and North America.

Fiat had initially planned to build in Mirafiori the replacement for the Jeep Compass and Patriot and an Alfa SUV that would have shared systems and components with the Jeep model.

The change of strategy implies that the single model to replace the Patriot and Compass and its Alfa sibling will be manufactured in the United States. Jeep currently builds the Patriot and Compass in Belvidere, Illinois.

Fiat declined to give details on which models will be built in Mirafiori as part of a refurbishment of the factory, but the automaker is developing smaller models to meet an increasing demand downsized vehicles, especially in Europe.

In a statement issued on Monday, Fiat, which controls 53.5 percent of Chrysler Group, said it will remodel Mirafiori to build the most updated version of one of its three main architectures on which different nameplates for its various brands will be produced.

Development of the manufacturing infrastructure will begin in 2012 and production of the first nameplate, a Jeep SUV, is expected in the second half of 2013, it said.

The architecture to be installed in Mirafiori is internally called SUSW. It is a wider, U.S.-compliant version of Fiat's European Small architecture, which will debut next spring on two small minivans that Fiat will produce in Serbia to replace the Idea and Multipla models.

Fiat's group executive council made the production decisions for Mirafiori at meetings on Friday and Saturday, reversing a plan first announced in December 2010 to install in Mirafiori the bigger CUSW architecture.

CUSW is a wider, U.S. compliant version of Fiat's European Compact architecture that debuted last year on the Alfa Giulietta compact hatchback.

The first model to use the CUSW architecture will be a Dodge compact sedan that will replace the Caliber and will be unveiled in January at the Detroit auto show.

Mirafiori currently builds the Alfa MiTo 3-door subcompact, as well as the Fiat Idea and Lancia Musa small minivans.

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Fiat to reach 58.5% of Chrysler by year end

MILAN (Reuters) -- Fiat S.p.A. expects to raise its stake in Chrysler Group to 58.5 percent by the end of this year after it achieves a preset performance target, the company said. Fiat currently owns 53.5 percent of the U.S. carmaker.

The final test is the development of a Fiat-based car that can get 40 miles per gallon.

The group, which reiterated its critical mass target of around 6 million vehicles by 2014, confirmed its 2011 group guidance which includes revenues in excess of 58 billion euros ($79.5 billion) and liquidity of around 18 billion euros.

On Monday, Sergio Marchionne, who is CEO of both Fiat and Chrysler, said the group had enough liquidity to help it weather the financial crisis.

Like other industrial heavyweights, Fiat has been hit by worries that a global economic slowdown would hurt its revenues.


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Video: CNN test drives the Fiat 500 at the Consumer Reports’ test track

The Fiat 500, the first Fiat offering since the company took control of Chrysler, was widely anticipated in the United States.

Consumer Reports just published a road test of the tiny, retro-styled Fiat 500--the first vehicle from Fiat to be sold in America for decades. CNN’s Ali Velshi recently visited our Auto Test Center to take the 500 for a spin around our 327-acre facility and discuss our findings with Senior Director David Champion.

Besides its eye-catching looks, fun-to-drive handling and compact car fuel economy, the 500 loses some of its appeal with a choppy ride, noisy cabin, and tight rear seats. Even with these compromises, the 500 won many drivers over with its playful personality.

Champion goes into more detail on the ride and our review on the 500 with Velshi. Check out the CNN video clip below. For the full take, see our complete Fiat 500 road test and video.

Read More: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2011/09/video-cnn-test-drives-the-fiat-500-at-the-consumer-reports-test-track.html