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General Which model is selling the best ?

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General Which model is selling the best ?

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multispoke

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Hi All. 500 Irish owner 'twice over' having 'started' with a Sport model (looks like the standard 500) and moved on recently to a 'newish' 500 Lounge.

In Europe that have just announced a revamp of the models that are now available to buy. As you know we have the Pop, Lounge and Sport with engine choices of 1.2, 1.4 (Not multi-air like you guys) and the Twin Air. They have 'dropped' our Sport model and re-vamped it into a 'new' Twin Air using a '+' for the spec level and limited the colour choices to the darker ones.

What I wanted to ask was - which model sells the best in the U.S. - is it the Pop, Lounge or Sport ?

There's quite a bit of interest with some individuals on your Sport spec because it looks quite different to the Pop and Lounge models. It's like a half way house between the standard 500 and an Abarth without the MA Turbo engine.

Realise that it's early days yet.
I'm not too sure if it's worth doing a Poll on it - several have been done to-date but more on 'Stop start'... etc.
I thought that if the demand for your Sport model in the US was higher than anticipated then it might be a model that could be or would be offered in Europe.
Any inputs greatly appreciated.
 
Who knows? There have actually been very few sold so far except for the first 500. The last time I checked there were only 30 something dealerships even open yet. It has been an abominably slow roll-out.(n)

In my personal opinion, the Sport will sell to Males and the others to Women (with exceptions of course). The Abarth will go mainly to Men. We'll know before long!
 
geeded said:
Who knows? There have actually been very few sold so far except for the first 500. The last time I checked there were only 30 something dealerships even open yet. It has been an abominably slow roll-out.(n)

In my personal opinion, the Sport will sell to Males and the others to Women (with exceptions of course). The Abarth will go mainly to Men. We'll know before long!
Click to expand...

Of the members on the forum how many have actually bought a 500 ?
 
Depends. I have a $500 deposit down on an Abarth (#2 in line). Does that make me an owner?:D Of course, it will not even be available until perhaps Feb/Mar 2012:(. The 101 hp version is not what I'm looking for. I want an Italian equivalent to our '06 MINI "S". I'm willing to wait for that, even if the closest dealer (not even open yet), is going to be 135 miles away. The parent dealership was happy to take my money though while they finish building the adjacent Fiat dealership.

The 500 is just barely on the grid here. At the present rate, it will take the rest of the year before there are even a few thousand on the road. The Sport I drove at the (future) dealership was very nice. Slower than what I'm used to but I fit well and I like the interior layout and that's all I neeed tod know.(y) I do know that I'll be at the very high end of the age curve though.

Cheers
 
geeded said:
Depends. I have a $500 deposit down on an Abarth (#2 in line). Does that make me an owner?:D Of course, it will not even be available until perhaps Feb/Mar 2012:(. The 101 hp version is not what I'm looking for. I want an Italian equivalent to our '06 MINI "S". I'm willing to wait for that, even if the closest dealer (not even open yet), is going to be 135 miles away. The parent dealership was happy to take my money though while they finish building the adjacent Fiat dealership.

The 500 is just barely on the grid here. At the present rate, it will take the rest of the year before there are even a few thousand on the road. The Sport I drove at the (future) dealership was very nice. Slower than what I'm used to but I fit well and I like the interior layout and that's all I neeed tod know.(y) I do know that I'll be at the very high end of the age curve though.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response geeded. Quite a few A500 drivers drove MINI S. When I checked the spec on your US 500 I noticed that it weighted as much as the European Abarth - the European 500 is 930kgs whilst the Abarth is 1035kgs. So that might explain the blunt performance on the 500. If your dealer is 130 miles away and they will be an Abarth dealership then that's not too bad. In Ireland we have no Abarth dealership so I doubt that that I will have any warranty cover on a A500. If you check on some of the other threads e.g. the Marea forum they have a list of who has what. Also a 'Poll' can be done which would give some indication of breakdown on which model is actually been bought / ordered. The age profile of the 500 is quite a mix varying from mid 20s to guys in their 60s - the 500 is a bit too pricey for the younger drivers. If you are at the upper end of the age bracket you wouldn't look one bit out of place. A lot of Abarth drivers at there as well. Congrats on being 2nd in line - all you have to do now is pre-order the reg plate so it something Abarthy or Italian on it. (y)
 
multispoke said:
Thanks for the response geeded. Quite a few A500 drivers drove MINI S. When I checked the spec on your US 500 I noticed that it weighted as much as the European Abarth - the European 500 is 930kgs whilst the Abarth is 1035kgs. So that might explain the blunt performance on the 500. If your dealer is 130 miles away and they will be an Abarth dealership then that's not too bad. In Ireland we have no Abarth dealership so I doubt that that I will have any warranty cover on a A500. If you check on some of the other threads e.g. the Marea forum they have a list of who has what. Also a 'Poll' can be done which would give some indication of breakdown on which model is actually been bought / ordered. The age profile of the 500 is quite a mix varying from mid 20s to guys in their 60s - the 500 is a bit too pricey for the younger drivers. If you are at the upper end of the age bracket you wouldn't look one bit out of place. A lot of Abarth drivers at there as well. Congrats on being 2nd in line - all you have to do now is pre-order the reg plate so it something Abarthy or Italian on it. (y)
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the info, I certainly appreciate it. Here the Fiat 500 is being treated as a "boutique" brand with only a 130-odd dealers being allowed at the start. When the A500 is added, it will be as a Model, same as the Pop, Sport, etc. No separate Abarth dealers. The Factory warranty here is 4 years / 50,000 miles bumber-to-bumper and includes roadside assistance.

The weight increase is due to a variety of changes. Go to www.fiat500usa.com for all the info you could possibly want. It is not the factory site but has tons of information on the NA 500. Go down past the big picture and on the left side are pictures with links. The first one is for changes between the Euro and North American 500s. Since our 500 was created using all new tooling, went ahead and used the 2011 Panda chassis which will be incorporated into your 500s in 2012. There is a lot of extra high-strength steel added as well as more wheel travel, sound deadening, larger seats, a folding center armrest, heavier duty heating/air conditioning, larger gas tank, and so on. Most of this will migrate to your 500s next year.

I'm doing research on what license plate I want to get. Of course, a lot of the "Italian" ones have been taken for a long time. Especially any using the word "ciao":D. Here in the USA, license plates/registration are the responsibility of each individual State. That means there can be 50 plates saying "ciao bella" with the only difference being the State information. So I have a few ideas but won't decide until the car arrives (I don't want anyone to take the plate I decide on);),

Cheers
 
Last edited:
geeded said:
Thanks for all the info, I certainly appreciate it. Here the Fiat 500 is being treated as a "boutique" brand with only a 130-odd dealers being allowed at the start. When the A500 is added, it will be as a Model, same as the Pop, Sport, etc. No separate Abarth dealers. The Factory warranty here is 4 years / 50,000 miles bumber-to-bumper and includes roadside assistance.

The weight increase is due to a variety of changes. Go to www.fiat500usa.com for all the info you could possibly want. It is not the factory site but has tons of information on the NA 500. Go down past the big picture and on the left side are pictures with links. The first one is for changes between the Euro and North American 500s. Since our 500 was created using all new tooling, went ahead and used the 2011 Panda chassis which will be incorporated into your 500s in 2012. There is a lot of extra high-strength steel added as well as more wheel travel, sound deadening, larger seats, a folding center armrest, heavier duty heating/air conditioning, larger gas tank, and so on. Most of this will migrate to your 500s next year.

I'm doing research on what license plate I want to get. Of course, a lot of the "Italian" ones have been taken for a long time. Especially any using the word "ciao":D. Here in the USA, license plates/registration are the responsibility of each individual State. That means there can be 50 plates saying "ciao bella" with the only difference being the State information. So I have a few ideas but won't decide until the car arrives (I don't want anyone to take the plate I decide on);),

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Geeded. I have been looking at that US site quite a bit and also the some of what's happening on your 'Tuning front'. You're very fortunate to be getting a lot of the goodies before us althought I like a car to be light it improves the power to weight ratio. At 100 brake and 930kgs it gives 108bhp to the ton on the European model which makes it nice and lively and still averages at least 35 European mpg.
Very surprised that you are being allowed to sell the Abarth models alongside the standard models. (y) This is a new precedence from what I understand. My understanding was Abarth has stated that it had to be a dedicated garage with at least 6 Abarths on show. There's hope for us yet here in Ireland - I think I'll be putting a call into the business development manager in Ireland shortly (y).
P.S. I had a 'friend' who was a Bishop - up in the Catskills - was over there in 1989 to legitimise a Green card - he had a no. and 'Irish' plate with the no. 2 after it. When I asked him why didn't he had a no. 1 he said that the Archbishop got in before him so he had the no. 1 !
 
You have to realize one fact. Fiat hasn't sold a car in the US since the 80's. Few remember it and those that do, remember poor service, rust, & neglect. Not to mention "Fix It Again Tony".;) So, selling the Abarth 500 as a separate unknown brand made from another unknown brand is a losing proposition. Not to mention that there would have been no Dealers willing to start a dealership for a car they'd be lucky to sell a few hundred units a year.

Fiat is coming back to the US by way of buying the dealership network of Chrysler. Chrysler is not exactly the number one Corporation here:D. So they'll start small, combine with Chrysler and hopefully they will build off each other.

We shall see.(y)
 
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