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Good bye Fiat 500 here in NA

5K views 28 replies 15 participants last post by  hownowcb 
#1 · (Edited)
NA, just not into city cars here. The small Fiat 500, in Europe is the top selling city car.

That's right.
Fiat is killing their best selling model in the US, the 500.
Go figure...

Even though it is not a huge hit by any means*with only 5370 sold last year (from a high of 47 000 back in 2012), it was their best selling model.
It was even "slightly" more popular than the 500X SUV.

An all-new*500 is supposedly a few months away, at least in Europe. (The current one is over 12 years old!)
But the first version introduced will be electric. Competing, in Europe, with the new Honda E and VW ID3.
And it might not be sold in the US, at least for a while.
The next 500 is rumored to have hidden rear doors like the previous generation Mini Clubman.
A feature that could make it more popular...

But no prototype of the next 500 has been caught yet. So it might not be ready for production soon.


It is a weird move to cancel a car before its next generation is ready. Even weirder to cancel your best selling model.
(which means they are still selling the weirdo 500L in the US.)

I have to mention that the 500 sold in the US is assembled in Mexico, not Europe.
Which could have something to do with the canceling of that model in the US.
Maybe the Mexican*factory is scheduled to build another more profitable model?
 
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#2 ·
It is a shame but not shocking. I am glad I had the privilege to own the 500 and 500 Abarth as I doubt we will see the 500 in any form sold in the US. Between the love of SUV's, relative inexpensive fuel and Fiat's reputation in North America, I think the 500 and possibly the Fiat brand is "toast" here. I agree however Smark, why do away with the 500 before the 500L? Doesn't make any sense from any angle....
 
#4 · (Edited)
The 500L and 124 are on the chopping block as well... per the same rumor mills. I expected the 500 wouldn't make it into the 2019 lineup, so ran out and bought a 2018.

In the next couple months you can expect there may be a glut of left over Pop models. The automatic is currently $15,500, with an extra $2K off if you qualify for bonus savings and I suspect pricing may drop a bit more.
 
#7 ·
Thre are very few people in the us that like small cars. They will only start to sell well if your gas goes up 3x the price it is now. The 500e is too expensive and lags behind a bit in a few things that some other brands have for the same price range. I just purchased a 500e that I plan on keeping for a long time. At least we will be able to get parts from Europe. Our cars will be more and more rare as the years go on. Almost everyone who has an e also has another car and can wait for a part. I think it will be cool to have something unique on the road.
 
#8 ·
I think it's because the 500 is old, dated, gives horrible gas mileage vs the size. We all know that small car sales are not great but Fiat got hit harder than many. Fiat gave no reason for current 500 owners to buy a new one, thus they relied on new customers and that number shrank big time. It's pretty bad when Porsche can almost sell double the 911's over the 500's.
 
#9 ·
Apples & oranges with regards to 911's in my mind. The biggest failure was FCA failed to market their product enough. If they had really capitalized on the quirkiness and the fun factor, a la VW Beetles in the 60's & 70's, they would've carved out a much larger segment of those of us that want more than just basic transportation with our basic transportation vehicles. BTW, I'm not understanding why some are bashing the mileage on these. Only had mine a short time, but I'm averaging 34.6 mpg for the 1st 1000 miles or so I've owned it, and I typically drive in sport mode and rather "enthusiastically". :)
 
#10 ·
Unfortunately, taste is a fickle thing and the cute retro cars are all going by the wayside. The new Beetle is dead too. Americans, by and large drive and buy bland anonymous crap. Next time you're out on the road take a look around and count how many grey sedans you see. It's a see of Altimas, Camrys, RAV4s, CRVs etc. All grey or black.

The FIAT 500 is like this shouty bright easter egg with wheels. That's why WE love it. It has charm and character by the bushel. The average American can't handle that.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Unfortunately, taste is a fickle thing and the cute retro cars are all going by the wayside. The new Beetle is dead too. Americans, by and large drive and buy bland anonymous crap. Next time you're out on the road take a look around and count how many grey sedans you see. It's a see of Altimas, Camrys, RAV4s, CRVs etc. All grey or black.

The FIAT 500 is like this shouty bright easter egg with wheels. That's why WE love it. It has charm and character by the bushel. The average American can't handle that.
My 500, is silver. We ate breakfast this morning, at Panera bread. A sea full of SUV’s. Silver, gray, and black. Acura, Lexus, GMC, CRV, etc, in front of the place.
 
#16 ·
lol I'm really thinking of buying a cell phone just so I can track my car.

Either that or I need to install a remote controlled weather balloon. With the Neon, I had a couple times of approaching the wrong car. (Once at the grocery store... there were 5 red Neons within 100 feet.) With the 500, it's a game of Where's Waldo every time I leave the store.

I am considering painting it a day glo color, or slap a "Starsky and Hutch" lamp atop every time I park.
 
#17 ·
A certain American President, before he was President, would manipulate the markets for profits through threats and lies and about his intentions for companies he would acquire. Perhaps Fiat is doing the same for a cash infusion. I mean, it's working on me. I plan to buy a convertible and an Abarth 500 prima della fine.
 
#20 ·
When I bought my 2012 Pop, my eyes were wide open. I was ready for the 500 to fail in NA as I drove off the lot. I bought a FIAT 500 because I love the car. It's a blast to drive. I don't need or want to drive a tank, or a mini tank, and by that I mean the many ad nauseum SUV copycats. The FIAT 500 is the perfect car for getting from here to there in style. I'll keep mine for many years to come. Parts will be available on a world wide basis, have no concerns about that.
 
#23 ·
I’ve had the privilege of owning my Abarth for 7 years now(built & bought brand new in 2012-still going strong almost 60,000 miles later).” The car still brings a grin to my face when I turn the key in the ignition and listen to the exhaust burble and the Garrett turbo spooling up,ready to go. It’s saddening to hear that the 500 is being discontinued here in the States. There a number of factors that come into play here. It addition to cheap fuel and our country’s appetite for SUVs/crossovers and trucks there’s the fact that the car wasn’t marketed right(when’s the last time we saw the 500 being advertised on TV or on the radio). From the start when the 500 was introduced stateside advertising stumbled and that costed one Chrysler executive her job.

Another factor that comes into play is the fact that the car’s design is 12 years old(while cute and “classic” it’s behind the times). Cars here in the US typically are redesigned around the 5 year mark with refreshing in between. It’s like FCA focused more on refreshing other products but left the 500 as is on purpose. For a few years we were anticipating a brand new 500 but nothing came to pass(even the Smart car got redesigned).Things certainly didn’t help when Sergio Marchionne passed away unexpectedly.

Simply put, the wrong people are in charge-and it’s not the first time anything Chrysler related has been down this road-the previous time it almost killed the company(remember the so-called “merger of equals”-some of us prefer not to).

With that said I still will keep my Abarth as long as the product support and spare parts are still available.
 
#28 ·
I drive the **** out of my 2012 Fiat 500 Pop With just over 150,000 miles. It looks and drives like a new car. Everything works as it should except the rear hatch and has never left me stranded. I still love driving this car and plan on keeping it for as long as it can be repaired within reason.
2012 Fiat Pop going 150,000 MILES - WOW - reinforces my confidence in the lightly used 2017 Fiat Abarth sitting in my driveway. I average 12,500 miles a year so with proper maintenance & crash avoidance, I have 10+ years of great *** driving. Thanks for posting!
 
#29 ·
I embarrassed to admit that I finally traded in my 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth this past March. 57,000 hilarious, silly, enjoyable, efficient miles on my Abarth later, my wife traded in her 2016 Fiat 500X for a 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Sport, and our Fiat love affair began to fade. Whereas I used to insist on us using my Abarth vs. her 500X for road trips, suddenly I was just fine taking her Alfa.

Then came the pandemic. I'm 70 with morbid COPD. I never expected to live this long, and I NEVER expected I'd think about another car after my Abarth. But one night I had a fevered dream that I wanted to actually buy an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, the one with the Ferrari-built V-6 with 505 hp. The dream was acknowledging that I'm likely to die before a vaccine is proven useful. So if I'm gonna die long before I use up my 401(k), why shouldn't I go out in flames of fun?

A few moments of Google searching the following morning revealed the actual price for even a used Quadrifoglio! SO, with nothing else to do, I Googled "ordinary" Alfa Romeo Giulias, since my wife already owned the Alfa SUV we honestly "need", and it's true that we do need an SUV. So, sad to say, the best possible deal on a low mileage lease turn-in 2018 Giulia Sport TI was sitting, just waiting for me, and me alone at our local, wonderful dealership.

It was Vesuvio Gray, with dark 5-hole Alfa wheels, red leather interior, sunroof, and bonus winter tires! My Abarth was Grigio Gray, with dark 17" Abarth wheels, red leather interior, sunroof and 16" dedicated winter tires and wheels. I asked my wife, "If I do this trade, do you think anyone will actually notice?" The truth? One of my friends and I stood in front of my new Alfa for 20 minutes, and he DID NOT notice!

Because all Alfa Romeos in the US are automatics, I can once again listen to music, since my old school iPod synchs wonderfully with the Alfa, and my "shifter hand" can now peruse my music library, and I no longer need to listen when to up or down shift. I sold the snow tires to the salesman and already bought new dedicated winter wheels and tires for my Giulia in June. LOL!

So, am I happier? Maybe... Now I need a crane to get into and out of my low-slung Giulia. My Abarth was the perfect height. The Giulia has an annoying right side blind spot due to the shorter four-dour B pillar, which didn't exist in my Abarth. I test drove a Fiat 124 Abarth when they first came out, just to please my dealer, but I didn't even fit inside, and the trunk wouldn't even hold a day's worth of groceries. And WINTER in Minnesota. Nope. My Abarth was like a mountain goat with winter tires, and with no back seat, it could swallow tons of stuff!

I do take pride in one very specific thing: my Alfa Romeo ain't no damned Acura, BMW, Chevy, Honda, Hyundai, Infinity, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes, Toyota gray four-door sedan with dark alloy wheels (tinted windows or not)! It's a goddammed gorgeous Italian Alfa Romeo, you tools! (There's no more rear seat legroom in my Giulia than there is an a Fiat 500, but who sits in the back, anyway? If we need to seat more than two, we take my wife's Stelvio.)

The fact is, my and my wife's Alfa Romeos are more refined than we'd logically choose, but the prices our dealer offered us were too good to pass up, and our dealer has already and always treated us like royalty. If we could have a more than two-car garage situation, I'd have never traded my Abarth. But I'd also have kept my 2003 Honda Element, too! Maybe some more...(my wife slaps me back to reality).

If I were younger than 60, I'd have kept my Abarth for life. But the pandemic has literally changed everything. I can make my Alfa ride like my Abarth (harsh), but I can't make it sound so sweet/obnoxious without an aftermarket exhaust, and I'm not sure I need all that extra loud since I'm listening to music again after seven years without it!

It's arguably unfair that my wife and I have the financial flexibility to buy two Alfa Romeos to replace our two Fiats, since most Fiat buyers aren't in our shoes. I do apologize for that, but at least we've earned it. But I will forever miss my sweet little Abarth. I heard it sold right off the dealer's lot in two or three days, to some young hooner, who intends to modify the **** out of it. So my Abarth will likely die a shameful death. I hope the jerk appreciates it while it lasts. I'm glad I don't know who actually bought it. But I know what it sold for, and he got a bargain, let me tell you!
 
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