Indian Autos blog

Not everything that glitters is gold; But gold, in it’s refined form, glitters without fail!

Check out these two monumental creations made from gold that you can buy

1) A Lamborghini Reventon made entirely from gold and diamonds. Click HERE for more.

2) A rich Fiat 500 garnished with gold trimmings. Click HERE for more.

Fiat India is planning to re-launch its premium compact hatchback, the Fiat 500 (Cinquecento in Italian) over the coming months. The company plans to position the car more aggressively vis-a-vis its main rival the Volkswagen Beetle.

Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, CEO, Fiat India -

Retro cars with distinctive looks are a big hit and that’s what we would capture in our new campaign to be rolled out in a few months

The move of the company to re-launch the car comes on the back of the Volkswagen Beetle having done exceedingly well in the market, leaving the Fiat 500 biting the dust. Volkswagen has sold 300 units of the Beetle since its launch last November while on the other hand Fiat has only managed to sell a meager 68 units of its 500 ever since the car was launched way back in July 2008.

The company is now looking to claw its way back into the premium segment of the hatchback market by re-launching the car at a more attractive price point along with an extensive list of customization options.

Mr. Kapoor Added -

We have a clear price advantage and will play it to our customers with various options for the product

The Fiat 500 when launched in July 2008 was the first of a couple of imports which Fiat had planned to launch in the Indian car market to resurrect the Fiat brand in the country. But, the car did not meet sales expectations, mainly due to its astronomical price tag and that forced Fiat to go on the backfoot and cancel the launch of its other import, the Bravo hatchback.

Fiat will now now be looking to revive the Fiat 500 brand in the country and take the fight to the Volkswagen Beetle with its new price and marketing strategy for the car.

The 500,000th Fiat 500 is a testament to the love people have on this car world over

The 500,000th Fiat 500 model, a Funk White 1.2 with Start&Stop technology, rolled out of the production line day before yesterday at Fiat’s Tychy plant in Poland.

This milestone has been achieved in just 21 months is considered as one of the biggest hits of all time in the history of Fiat Automobiles.

The 500 has won all sorts of awards and accolades and we won’t be surprised to see the production number race past one million within the next couple of years. Around 80% of sales come from the top-end models in 83 countries with India being one of them.

The 500 isn’t all looks by the way. It is Euro NCAP 5 Star car, which makes it possible the safest buy in the city car segment. It comes with fuel saving technology and recently acquired more green credentials with the addition of a twin cylinder Multiair engine.

Below is the top ten markets for the Fiat 500:

1. Italy (244,755 units)
2. France (58,425)
3. Great Britain (51,445)
4. Germany (48,319)
5. Holland (13,682)
6. Switzerland (10,765)
7. Spain (10,103)
8. Belgium (9548)
9. Japan (9030)
10. Austria (8648)

It is the 30th time the Fiat 500 is winning an international award, with 3,000 more waiting in line.

The 500′s 30th award was at the 2009 Auto Express Awards, for the second consecutive year, the 500 was given the best city car title.

The stylish Italian supermini was judged at Britain’s biggest weekly car magazine’s annual award function. It’s not the first time Fiat’s coming first, the Panda pocketed the same award for four years, before the 500 came into the scene.

If the cult movie – Italian Job had an all Italian cast, the choice of getaway cars would have been fairly obvious – Fiat 500s (Formula: Brit icon Mini => Italian icon 500). Hang on, it seems they would have chosen Grande Punto over the 500. Don’t ask how that works, its hard to understand Italians at times.

In case you didn’t notice, the Puntos in this video are in red, white and green – colours of the Italian flag.

The Fiat 500 is a cute cuddly thing and absent here on IAB for a while.

But it’s back on the front page. The station wagon version of the 500 which we brought up earlier has been rendered by our Australian mates at the motor report

When a car maker spends a few million on a car, he intends to make many times that over time. The Fiat 500 was a do or die car for Fiat and that doesn’t mean they’ll be happy selling that for the rest of their life.

The incidentally released the 500 Convertible, and now plans this one- A station wagon Fiat 500 with 4 wheel drive lifted from the Panda.

The Fiat 500 Station wagon is planned for next year. Four doors are too many for this little car, so don’t expect anything more than a longer wheelbase and a scattering of badges.

Yeah, we’re reminded of Porsche too.

Yet another Fiat Uno rendering has emerged. Compared to Jorge’s futuristic rendering (shown earlier), this one has a better chance of being the next Fiat Uno, as it resembles the spy pictures in size and shape.

Codenamed the Project 327, the new Uno will share its platform with the next-generation Panda. It will come with Airbags and other safety equipment as standard, and feature fresh interiors like the Fiat 500 (but only in Europe).

click through for more images

The Nissan GT-R, Honda FCX Clarity, Volkswagen Golf and Fiat 500 took crowns in this year’s World Car of the Year awards at the New York International Auto Show yesterday morning.

Nissan GT-R- World Performance Car of the Year

The GT-R toppled the competition which had all its real and virtual world rivals- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Porsche 911 Carrera.