Fiat 500 Sales Behind Expectations?

This does not surprise me. Their expectations seemed very inflated.... It probably is for the best for them to ramp up sales slowly.

 

The more I see it the more it looks like a polished turd; take that and Fiat's poor heritage here in the US and it is going to be a harder sell than folks might have first thought...

Remember when Mini came here, it had nothing to live down..

 

Mini barely sold any cars here 59-67. You are right MINI did not have a bad rep to live down. Fiat on the other hand has a lot of bad cars to try & make folks forget about. I really liked Fiat's back in the day, fun cars but they were prone to breaking down & falling apart. RUST!!!

 

Wow man... Why's it no surprise that ugly piece-a-work isn't a seller.
Well it'll be in the cellar.... A Long Time.

Cellar Defined: Basement; The Lowest Position (as in an athletic league); A stock of wines.

 

They didnt seriously think they were gonna take the small car market by storm now did they???

 

No one said they were thinking that. They are probably hoping to match the relative success they've had in Europe.

 

As you know it is a different world over there as far as cars & what people want go. Here we want our cars big & our trucks bigger.... :biggrin5:

 

I saw one the other day, the driver was trying to drive it like he stole it. I predict that one will soon be destined to the scrap yard.

 

Was thinking this exact thing. I really don't see a car like the Fiat 500 doing as well here because in general Americans have different preference in cars.

 

I really wanted one.

I was eagerly awaiting the 500 from the day I first heard it was coming to the US. I thought it had a good chance of becoming this year's chic car. (Think Mustang 2005, Mini 2002, VW Beetle 1999, Miata 1990...) I gobbled all the news I could find about them, and finally got to test drive one this April.

I was seriously disappointed. The car felt cheap inside. It had no power whatsoever. And I couldn't sit in the passenger seat. My head was crushed against the headliner. (I'm only 6'1".)

So I started, sadly, looking for alternatives. Almost two months later, I ordered an MCS, and here I am.

But I still want to like the Fiat. When the Abarth version comes out, I will check the Fiat out again.

 

I seem to recall the Abarth has a dished contour headliner for both the driver and passenger. Or, if you need more headroom, there is always the cabrio.

 

I didn't think it was a chic car... :blush2::blush2::blush2:


:ihih: :lol:


I feel ya though. Good to know that a 6'1" guy would have a hard time fitting. Especially since I'm 6'1". Welcome to MA btw.

 

this is a chic's mustang:

 

That would be "chic", as in trendy and stylish. A "chick" is something else.

 

Ah, well apparently we assumed a typo versus using one of them fancy words. Appreciate the clarification.

So in that case: My Mustang was Tres Chic!

 

The weeks rant at Autoextremist.com is spot on the Fiat mess.

 

I'm really excited for those people who want a Fiat. To me, it's one of the ugliest objects on the face of planet earth. Just sayin.

 

Just saw my first Fiat 500 commercial on TV. Had J Lo driving (yeah sure, that's believable). She's jumping out through the open top and sliding down the front hood (do Italian cars have bonnets?).

That's going to sell 500's???

No where near the panache of the MINI commercials.

 

I think BMW/MINI needs some competition. If they feel theatend, maybe it will up the quality ante. Besides, J Lo looks pretty hot...