I think the client demographic will be similar to that of the MINI in the sense that the lower powered models will tend to be bought by women and older men whereas the Abarth and perhaps even the 1.4 will attract a mainly male driver. The majority of buyers will live in a large city and many will have a another car too.

It is true that whilst there is a waiting period of 2 or more months there is not much point in advertising apart from reinforcing brand recognition in order to promote FIAT as a whole.

For the car to become too common the fleet market will play a big role and historically FIAT has not been very successful in this area compared with Ford, Vauxhall or the french makes.

In any case with the amount of options to customize it available, any buyer worried about seeing another has plenty of ways to make their own 500 stand out.

I hope it doesn't get too common,like the mini is now. Someone told me,or I might have read it somewhere, that Fiat has said they would limit numbers in the UK anyway. That'll be good for keeping the residual values high, and it is nice to have something that bit rarer and exclusive.

hmmmm. I come to this discussion slightly biased i'm afraid . .

I've had 5 minis, yes, the proper BL / austin kind, and have mocked every one of my friends that have bought the small BMW, and you know what, only one has actually given a toss about the original mini and any vague connection it may have to the original

The feeling I get from mini owning friends is that the new mini is far more of a fashion statement than about the actual car, 2 of them openly admit they don't like the way the little bmw drives, but that they are still 'cool'

:bang:

In a way I hope the 500 is as big a deal as the original, in that it's a cheap, stylish, quality way to get motoring, yet still holding it's head high amongst more expensive motors in the same way the original 500 was (and dare I say it, the original mini was)

here's to it being a fantastic success

Yep I was wondering the same thing considering how many 500s Fiat have sold and how few I've seen on the road!

I hope they're not so common. I like the looks I get thanks

Vesta said:

Yep I was wondering the same thing considering how many 500s Fiat have sold...

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About 7,000 so far.

Scrogg said:

About 7,000 so far.

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But how many have been delivered?

Scrogg said:

About 7,000 so far.

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but how many are actually sold my local fiat dealer told me that his group of franchises (stoneacre) have ordered " a lot" but the only sales he's had are for "customer" factory builds.

as far as the abarth goes the clio 197 would be my and most other peoples choice for a hot-hatch as for the same money it has 197 bhp whereas the 500 will only have 150 or a possible 180 but that will cost extra. the 500 will stay pretty rare i think. put simply its too expensive for a small car you ARE paying for chic and most people will want one but never buy one... but i have and i want them to be rare

My niece was looking for a 2nd hand Mini a couple of months ago, and I suggested the 500 to her. 10 minutes in the fiat dealership and the car was ordered! Shes still waiting on delivery though (been put back 4 weeks!)

It's werid thou cause I've just driven from Scotland to Somerset via Nottingham and now back in nottingham and i've yet to see one on the whole 700 miles!

Thou apparently there was one in Bristol parked behind a Seat but I missed that....

Like any idea how many have been delivered?

Jim

Driving up the Lisburn Road one day last week I saw three within about half a mile of each other... I had a little chuckle to myself...

Bugger! I saw 2 today.

Don't worry, nothings gonna be common the way fuel prices are going...

not likely to become too common based on some people experience of the dealer / buying process...

also whats the 8 weeks wait all about? thats for a factory order? go into any brand dealership and get a 'factory order' and what will the wait be??

plenty of cars lying around forecourts inc. pre-reg's - why do you pre-reg a car again??

Simmo1 said:

not likely to become too common based on some people experience of the dealer / buying process...

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It's actually a very clever ploy to keep the numbers down and the residuals high!

Simmo1 said:

go into any brand dealership and get a 'factory order' and what will the wait be??

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Anything from 4 weeks to 18 months...

Simmo1 said:

why do you pre-reg a car again??

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To hit sales targets.

Scrogg said:

It's actually a very clever ploy to keep the numbers down and the residuals high!


Anything from 4 weeks to 18 months...


To hit sales targets.

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thats someone who has all same answers as i got, except question 1.

Simmo1 said:

thats someone who has all same answers as i got, except question 1.

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That'll be because they are the actual answers.

Except the first one.

Personally i hate the attention. My previous Panda in grey was invisible and I loved it. I even had a guy wind down his window in traffic to talk to me, oh my god please put more of them on the road.

Mine is a pop in white and I love it. Here in Reading I have only seen one other in a month of ownership. please will someone else buy one here in south Reading.

I hope that loads are on the road when I get mine... dont want loads of people looking all over it when parked up, and asking stupid questions when filling up like.
"Nice car but dont Fiats rust"? Thats the favourite they always ask, then you see their 3 year old Merc with rotten arches

carroll said:

Mine is a pop in white and I love it. Here in Reading I have only seen one other in a month of ownership. please will someone else buy one here in south Reading.

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Hi, I have only seen one around (white) and I live in Fleet. I go to Reading for shopping once a month or so and I'll definitely wave if I see you on the road I have mod blue sport...

carroll said:

Personally i hate the attention. My previous Panda in grey was invisible and I loved it. I even had a guy wind down his window in traffic to talk to me, oh my god please put more of them on the road.

Mine is a pop in white and I love it. Here in Reading I have only seen one other in a month of ownership. please will someone else buy one here in south Reading.

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I don't think I would mind the attention...if I ever take bloomin delivery...

Caroll, What did you say to they guy who wound down his window? I prefer that sort of attention than road rage to tell you the truth...Don't think anyone could get angry with the 500, I've seen plenty of cutesy Figaros around Edinburgh and no one shouts at them but they do get lots of smiles and waves so I hope it's the same with the 500...if I ever take bloomin delivery...before the oil runs out...or we have to pay our hard earned tax dollars for another senseless, meaningless and wasteful war...(the real reason fuel prices are so high...)