Hi all ,


I am interested in buying the Fiat 500 Pop ( 2019 ). I went to our local showroom decided on getting the car however when i asked about the interior, pointing out i did not want any leather the sales rep said that the steering wheel and the gear lever come in leather ( basic fiat pop) and that i could not change to PU material. i saw online, however that it is possible to change. I wrote to FIat but till today i did not get any reply from them.
I am asking here maybe someone ordered the Fiat this year and knows if there is an option with the basic pop to not have any leather interiors. Any one knows please ?

Thank You
Ruth

Not sure these parts are even real leather (unlike the seats), it might be what they call "automotive leather", which is faux (fake...). Same as the armrests in the doors.
Don't think you can change this on the order, but the dealer could offer this as a custom change.
Gearknob should be easy to replace with aftermarket parts. Steering wheel is more difficult, but you may get covers that are easy to fix.

It’s never a normal leather that they use on the steering wheel, I’m guessing the dealership are confused with what’s leather and whats is leather look versus the old solid plastic steering wheel.

Speak to Fiat U.K. you can contact them via Facebook of phone them, they should be able to advise.

Staff in dealerships often have very little grasp of what they are selling, and will be confused as to why anyone wouldn’t want leather as they will think more leather = Better.

Having pulled apart the covers on fiat “leather” steering wheels, it seems they are not proper leather, it’s like a very thin veneer of leather over a fake leather backing or off cut of very cheap leather.

Though I presume in this instance it’s the presence of any leather you have issue with, which is where Fiat U.K. will be able to help you.

Thank you for your replies He said they use 'Eco leather' meaning cow skin , they take the skin after the animal is slaughtered. I dont like the idea of having animal skin on the wheel and found it strange that they did not offer any options, but yeah could be he said that to promote a more 'luxurious' car , ...i will contact Fiat on FB

One option if you’re really stuck and really want a Fiat 500 especially if buying new is to ask the dealer if they will have the wheel retrimmed, apparently looking about this is something some dealers will do, ford do a lot of vegan friendly options for their cars but some dealers will retrim steering wheels.

You could have it done in Alcantara which is very nice for a steering wheel and is not animal derived. Don’t forget that the trim around the gear stick is also often leather.

I believe the only leather wheel is the sport and Abarth. The rest are plastic.

I doubt the 500 wheels aren’t leather. They’re advertised as such. Yeah it’s crap quality leather, but it’s still leather.

I work for a car company and sadly getting a factory order for them to change the wheel isn’t going to happen, it’s not simply a case of just speccing a different wheel, there’s so much happening behind the scenes to make this an impossibility. As suggested you could always get it retrimmed in something that’s non-animal derived.

Car manufacturers are listening, and things like mushroom leather are on the way in the future...

etnica99 said:

Thank you for your replies He said they use 'Eco leather' meaning cow skin , they take the skin after the animal is slaughtered. I dont like the idea of having animal skin on the wheel and found it strange that they did not offer any options, but yeah could be he said that to promote a more 'luxurious' car , ...i will contact Fiat on FB

Click to expand...

Don’t bother contacting Fiat. Unless you’re wanting to give them a lot of extra money for someone to interrupt the line and swap the wheel, it isn’t going to happen. Car manufacturing these days is far too clever to allow for bespoke builds on a mass production line.