Comments on Fiat 500 USA: Fiat 500 Sales Up 44 Percent

Great sales report for Fiat!! You gotta love it!!

2012-01-05T22:23:14.221-05:00

Great sales report for Fiat!! You gotta love it!!

Great post Chris!! Awesome news! If anyone would l...

2012-01-05T18:23:38.620-05:00

Great post Chris!! Awesome news! If anyone would like a pdf copy of our club magazine, send an e mail to bertoneman@aol.com We would love for you to "test drive" our magazine and join the club! Online at www.flu.org

Hi Chris, it seems that the Canadian market is su...

2012-01-05T05:45:48.123-05:00

Hi Chris, it seems that the Canadian market is suffering though. What is the situation there? Thanks

That's good news Chris regarding sales. I was...

2012-01-05T05:16:09.742-05:00

That's good news Chris regarding sales. I was wondering what the Mini did in the first year of launch and you mentioned it in your blog (when did the Mini launch in the US, 2001, 2002 or 2003?). So maybe Fiat-Chrysler put a target that was too challenging. Maybe 30.000-35.000 in one year for North America could have been a better measure. Take care and keep this excellent website going!! Take care. Frankie

Thanks for putting it into perspective. I think F...

2012-01-04T19:41:38.732-05:00

Thanks for putting it into perspective. I think FIAT has a great product but still needs to figure out the US market.

It's definately not a flop, however, consider ...

2012-01-04T16:08:40.924-05:00

It's definately not a flop, however, consider the following: While 25000 for a single model is acceptable, it's a bit low for an entire brand. I.e. FIAT needs to add more models to its protofolio. Progetto L0 ("Ellezero") will address that. Progetto L0 will appeal to people for which the 500 is one size to small and therefore widen the market available to FIAT.

I'm quentioning their strategy. How much cars is healthy for a brand? I'd say you need to sell at least 100000 cards a year, preferably 150000 or so. Of course nobody expects FIAT to reach these numbers within 2 years, I don't think these numbers are in within reach with just the 500 and the L0.

To make a long story short, I think they need even more models and should consider some of their European success numbers: The Panda & the Punto. These cars sell in high volume and can make the brand sustainable. I consider the Punto to have the highest chance of success in the U.S. It is produced in the factory in Melfi and this factory has quite a bit of unused production capacity at the moment.

So I would say to FIAT: Start working on a US version of the Punto.

I'm very happy to hear this. I'm saving up...

2012-01-04T13:51:38.981-05:00

I'm very happy to hear this. I'm saving up for my down payment now. This is the kind of car I've always wanted but the U.S. likes to look down on small cars. Laura, thank you, even though you didn't get the fruits of your labor.