Fiat 500 not selling well

Sorry, didn't mean to indicate that MINI's were $16k. I meant that the Austin Fiat dealer has a bunch of Fiat 500's at that price. Instead of the $21k+ the DFW dealers are gouging people for.

Matter of fact, my wife and I went by the showroom about a week after they opened and of the 4 cars they had, two were the lower priced, lower option models.

Interesting about your cousin, though. I walked into the MINI dealer in San Antonio with my options sheet, put down a $500 deposit and 6 weeks later picked up the exact car I wanted. A Cooper (non S), sport seats, Xenon's, sport suspension and cruise for $18995.

-Rob

PHeller wrote: Ooo, there is marketing campaign. Have the 500 being chased by all the larger "small" cars, and illustrate that its faster than the Smart, narrower than the Fiesta, taller than the Mini, etc. All of this Italian Job style.

Wouldn't doing it 'Italian Job Style" be more likely to make people want to go drive a Mini, rather than a 500? I mean, seeing as both the original and the remake were essentially advertisements for them and how awesome they are at driving down stairs and stuff

Fiat didn't / doesen't have the greatest reputation for reliability in the states, I think a lot of people are waiting to see how fast they fall apart.

Unfortunately Fiat marketing turned it into a "chick car" pretty quickly with the 1-2 combo of releasing a Gucci edition and the Jello commercial. Not that I care about that. Hell I drove VW cabriolets for years

But you can probably blame the head of Fiat USA for the feminine slant

She looks like someone who thinks a Gucci edition is a good idea.

didn't TGUK call the 500 the best small car in europe bar none?

DaveEstey wrote: MINI's are still $20k and up, which makes them $4k MORE than the Fiats.

Isn't there more standard goodies, better handling and more power with the Mini? Plus it's not ugly as sin, has more usable interior space, etc....

And then there's their reputation here in the US. They're the European version of the Hyundai Excel.

Capt Slow wrote: Fiat didn't / doesen't have the greatest reputation for reliability in the states, I think a lot of people are waiting to see how fast they fall apart.

No one even remembers fiat any more. 45 year olds at the gas station have asked me what kind of car i am driving and when I replied Fiat, they ask "Who makes that? Plymouth?"

We need Alfas back, so here's the plan.

1) We all go buy a 500.

2) As soon as they bring Alfa Romeo back, thanks to us boosting the sales of the 500, we ditch them and start driving Alfas.

I'm curious what Fiat would have called this if Ford had not changed the name of the Five Hundred to Taurus? Would they have just called it the '500' but insisted everyone pronounce it cinquecento and not five hundred?

Just one of those weird thoughts that rolls around my head.

As for the Abarth helping things, is the extra ~35hp really going to help? I realize there are a lot more upgrades that go into it, and that 35hp is a 35% jump in power, but will the public buy into a high performance, turbocharged 133hp car? Even if they brought the SS, or sorry, esse esse with 160hp, I don't think it would provide that huge of a bump in sales. Of course, I'm no auto analyst, and my tastes are quite different from most, so I won't be surprised if I'm wrong.

Bob

I think the Abarth will make Fiat do well, based on how the MINI sold initially. IIRC the Cooper S outsold the standard Coopers like 2 to 1 in the U.S.

I think that not having the Abarth initially hurt some initial sales.

My wife's had her's since June and has yet to have someone ask about Fiat reliability. So, I don't think the stigma exists anymore.

-Rob

everyone has different tastes.

i don't care for the mini at all. not even a little bit.

furthermore i love bmw, in general, and would be embarrassed to have a dodge. so i can't explain it.

Schmidlap wrote: I'm curious what Fiat would have called this if Ford had not changed the name of the Five Hundred to Taurus? Would they have just called it the '500' but insisted everyone pronounce it cinquecento and not five hundred?

I don't know that Ford has a trademark on the number 500, lol. Especially considering Fiat was using it decades before!

Or maybe they could sell the Ford 500 and the Fiat 500 as a combo deal. The fiat is the daily driver, and the overweight ford's trunk is used to transport it to the dealer when it breaks down (I kid I kid!)

irish44j wrote:

Schmidlap wrote: I'm curious what Fiat would have called this if Ford had not changed the name of the Five Hundred to Taurus? Would they have just called it the '500' but insisted everyone pronounce it cinquecento and not five hundred?

I don't know that Ford has a trademark on the number 500, lol. Especially considering Fiat was using it decades before! Or maybe they could sell the Ford 500 and the Fiat 500 as a combo deal. The fiat is the daily driver, and the overweight ford's trunk is used to transport it to the dealer when it breaks down (I kid I kid!)

I always thought the Ford 500 was named after the Daytona 500 or was a pace car at the Indy 500 or something like that, and if anybody owned the rights to the name, it would be a race promoter.

Schmidlap wrote: Even if they brought the SS, or sorry, esse esse with 160hp, I don't think it would provide that huge of a bump in sales.

Everything I've read is saying we're getting something on the order of 170-185 hp in our Abarth. I think they realize anything slower than the MCS isn't going to cut it here.

Alfa105_BMWE30 wrote: Playing off the Italian heritage seems like the best play

they should have commercials with mobsters eating spaghetti.... or pauly d and vinnie.

the j-lo commercial made me unwant a 500.

Sitting in the 500 made me un-want one - it was much less polished than competitors, and felt cheaper by a decade than anything else in the auto show. Too bad, I think they did a very good job of design on the exterior.

And whoever is in charge of marketing should be fired.

The Mini turns me off and the Fiat doesn't. But it's not exciting looking. I'm hoping the Abarth gives me chills.

I love the interior and all the color/finish/texture/material options you can get with Fiat.

The interior is very roomy and my head doesn't even begin to hit the roof, which is unusual.

The interior of a car IS the car to the driver and the interior of the Fiat looks and feels like a nicer car than the price point.

Snowdoggie wrote:

irish44j wrote:

Schmidlap wrote: I'm curious what Fiat would have called this if Ford had not changed the name of the Five Hundred to Taurus? Would they have just called it the '500' but insisted everyone pronounce it cinquecento and not five hundred?

I don't know that Ford has a trademark on the number 500, lol. Especially considering Fiat was using it decades before! Or maybe they could sell the Ford 500 and the Fiat 500 as a combo deal. The fiat is the daily driver, and the overweight ford's trunk is used to transport it to the dealer when it breaks down (I kid I kid!)

I always thought the Ford 500 was named after the Daytona 500 or was a pace car at the Indy 500 or something like that, and if anybody owned the rights to the name, it would be a race promoter.

IDK, I'm sure "Ford 500" is trademarked, but the number "500" can't be.

Wasn't there a Mercedes SL500?

They are smaller than the MINI but for the price and what it's supposed to be that is OK. IMO, they need to improve the dealer network to sell more. These boutiques just gives the wrong impression, I mean you go to a car dealer to buy a car not a boutique. Who would get their hair styled at a car dealer. No one remembers Fiat so don't know the reputation. Around here, in order to get one you have to drive over 2 hours to Nashville or Birmingham to the closest "boutique". There are a few around here though and slowly getting more. Daughter thought she wanted one till she saw one and decided the Miata has more room, albeit less seats. 4 passenger and no storage or 2 passengers with some storage, she opted to keep the Miata.

Oh, and if they brought over a classic-esque Multipla version I'd already have it.

+1 on the boutique holding it back

I said it when they came out, Americans don't like small cars to begin with, and overpriced small cars even less. It will not sell at that price.

93EXCivic wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: Since when is a $16,000 funky car that gets 38 mpg frowned upon? The base MINI Cooper is $20,000 and gets 37 mpg, I don't see anybody railing against it.

No kidding. I swear anything that is new and isn't the Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta or MINI gets torn apart on this site.

Not just this site. Its the Smart syndrome all over again. I've watched the smart car be trashed here and elsewhere when the facts are it was 16k loaded better than any other econobox on the market, it returned 43+ mpg for me over 100,000 trouble free miles and its quirky but fun.

Everyone is still stuck in the "impractical" syndrome on these little cars when nothing could be less true. So few people need seating for 4 and hauling capability. My smart could haul almost anything I asked it to (and that was ALOT of stuff) and the 1 or 2 times a year it couldn't cover my needs I could rent a truck. It still came out much more cost effective.

The same people who laud the miata trash these cars when in reality they get better MPG than a miata, they can haul more than a miata, they are more comfortable than a miata and they cost less than a miata. Granted they are not as sporting but sometimes that's just not what is needed in a car. For the few times in my day to day life I can enjoy "sporting" driving its better to have a toy around to play with. For the day in day out drudgery, I'll forego some sporting to get some utility and practicality.

After seeing this thread today, I stopped by the local dealer. I tried to convince the sales guy to bring one to next month's autocross.

I like them, the wife likes them, could be possibly the next new vehicle in the driveway.

Here is a 500 parked next to a Scion 500 four door model. I just don't understand the hype with these. They are a 6 year old Scion with the back doors hacked off, the backseat in the rear hatch area and cuter headlights. To each their own.

I don't have any love for the Fiat, as the styling is just plain ugly to my eyes. Mazda 2 or Fiesta are not really better or worse looking, but seem to be much more practical cars. Of course, if I were to buy one of those two, I'd get a Focus for not much more cash and have more room and as good fuel economy.