Fiat 500C Reviews

Ford Fiesta Sport and Fiat Panda Easy go head-to-head in this comparative review..star {width:135px;}#article-corpus {width:100%; padding-right: 0;}

Radar units are normally fitted to the front of luxury cars to maintain a safe distance with the traffic ahead when the cruise control is activated. But the boffins at German technology company Bosch came up with the idea to move the radar unit to the rear of race cars to improve safety in endurance races where the vehicles have vastly different speeds.The Fiat 500 Abarth -- the smallest and slowest car in the 50-car field at this Sunday’s Bathurst 12-Hour race -- will be equipped with a Bosch radar mounted on the hatchback that warns the driver of cars approaching from behind. A screen on the dash shows which direction the car is likely to be overtaken on, by flashing an arrow.It is only the second use in the world of the technology, which debuted in the LeMans 24 Hour race last year. The specially-built race-ready Fiat 500 Abarth has a top speed of about 220km/h on Conrod Straight, but the front-running Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercedes-Benzes, Audis and Porsches are all capable of reaching over 300km/h and lap faster than a V8 Supercar.“With a closing speed of between 80 and 100km/h our drivers need all the help they can get,” said veteran motorsport manager Alan Heaphy, who has turned his expertise to the pint-sized Italian cars after years of managing teams in V8 Supercars, production cars and tarmac rally events.The two-car Fiat team has calculated that its cars will be lapped every five laps by the front-runners, which will average out to being overtaken every six seconds over the course of the race. Inside the cockpit, the team has also fitted an ultra-wide view mirror used in V8 Supercars.Leading drivers have welcomed the addition of the technology but many believe their faster cars will be so quick that the feisty Fiat will be overtaken before the driver even realises it.“The closing speeds at Bathurst are going to be phenomenal and, of course, the (Fiat) driver is going to be looking ahead at the racing line, not always looking at the mirror,” said Audi R8 driver Warren Luff, who is one of more than half-a-dozen race V8 Supercar drivers moonlighting at the event. “But of course anything to make the racing safer and give the driver as much warning as possible is a good thing.”IN THE THICK OF ITCarsguide’s Joshua Dowling and Paul Gover will have a driver’s view of this year’s Bathurst 12-Hour -- and what it’s like to be overtaken approximately 7000 times -- sharing driving duties in the Fiat 500 Abarth. Full report next week.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

Fiat-Chrysler is the latest carmaker to reveal its 2013 SEMA concepts, ahead of the Las Vegas aftermarket expo’s official opening next week. The Italian/US partnership will unveil no less than 20 Mopar-equipped concepts from its suite of brands, matching the efforts of fellow US giants Ford and General Motors.Five of these concepts have been teased this week, representing the Jeep, Ram Trucks, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands.Jeep has created the 2014 Cherokee-based Trail Carver, which features a unique decal package and roof basket, mud-terrain tyres, and orange-coloured tow hooks. The interior is covered in Katzkin Amaretto leather, and includes several Mopar optional accessories such as a wireless phone charger.

Chrysler majority owner Fiat has announced that the US cluster of car brands will not launch a public stock offering this year. In a statement yesterday, Fiat said Chrysler's board has decided an initial public offering would be "not practicable" this year.Instead, Chrysler Group LLC will keep working towards an IPO in the first quarter of next year. Fiat holds 58.5 per cent of Chrysler's shares, with the rest owned by a United Auto Workers union trust fund. The IPO would consist of the trust's shares.The CEO of both car groups, Sergio Marchionne, is keen to avoid an IPO and have Fiat buy the trust's shares so the two companies can be fully combined, allowing him to spend Chrysler money on Fiat operations."I'm not selling anything and nor do I think we need to do so," Marchionne said in October. However he filed the paperwork for an IPO as he and the trust have been in conflict over the price for a sale of the trust's share to Fiat, with no agreement reached.Last month, UBS AG set the value of the trust's stake at $US5.6 billion ($A6.1 billion). Fiat has gone to court seeking a judgement on the price, but the trial date is set for next September.While Fiat stepped in as a perceived 'saviour' to shore up the struggling Chrysler by buying into it two years ago, Chrysler's profits have been propping up Fiat on the balance sheet during 2013 as the Italian carmaker struggles in the European economic slump.Chrysler earned $US464 million last quarter on US sales of the Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee, its ninth-straight profitable quarter. The results boosted Fiat, which earned $US260 million in the third quarter. Without Chrysler's contribution, Fiat would have lost $US340 million.

Jeep has a new arrival on the way to create a lower entry point to the brand, and reported to be christened Jeepster in a salute to the heritage of the original Jeepster produced by Willys-Overland in the late 1940s.The new version will be based on the Jeep's Fiat-Chrysler stablemate, the Fiat 500X, and will share the engine line-up from the Fiat 500L sold overseas: a 74kW 0.9-litre TwinAir Turbo, 119kW 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo and an efficiency-focused 74kW 1.6-litre MultiJet II turbodiesel. It will slot into the Jeep family as a replacement for the Compass and Patriot, both of which start around $25,000 in Australia.Expected to make an appearance at the Geneva motor show in March, the Jeepster will carry the Jeep barred-grille and family face, and be given a respectable ground clearance, but will be produced in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive variants -- and it remains to be seen how much offroad ability it offers.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Fiat has announced it has signed a deal to buy out the rest of Chrysler, paying US$3.65 billion ($4.09b) for the 41.46 per cent holding owned by the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union's Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association trust.Chrysler will make a separate payment of US$700m ($784m) to the VEBA trust, which is set up to cover health care benefits for retired UAW members.Fiat says the deal -- expected to finalise before the end of January -- means there would no longer be a need to raise extra capital with a public stock launch. A public launch was a move CEO Sergio Marchionne was keen to avoid, but which was threatened by the UAW last year after their dissatisfaction with the price Marchionne was offering at the time.“In the life of every major organization and its people, there are defining moments that go down in the history books,” Marchionne said in the official statement. “For Fiat and Chrysler, the agreement just reached with the VEBA is clearly one of those moments.”Since becoming CEO of Fiat 10 years ago, Marchionne has been keen on making the Italian brand a global giant with the acquisition of other stables. He said last year full ownership of Chrysler would make the joint brand the world's seventh largest.Fiat first bought into Chrysler in mid-2011, buying shares held by the United States Treasury as the Detroit brand floundered. However the tables turned with the recent European economic crisis, and in 2013 it was booming Chrysler sales that supported the Italian brand as it struggled to make sales in Europe.The operational joining of the two brands in Australia has seen a strong rise in sales for its cluster of brands over 2012, with Fiat up 598 per cent -- the little Fiat 500/Abarth itself up 331 per cent -- Alfa Romeo 156 per cent, Chrysler 134 per cent and Jeep 21 per cent. The only lagging brand is Dodge, down 22 per cent with a lack of product as models trail off.The local HQ declined to comment on the buyout deal but said they were pleased with the year's results so far."We are thrilled with the sales performance across the Fiat Chrysler stable this year," Fiat-Chrysler spokesperson Karla Leach said. "Our dealers have performed amazingly to smash nearly every sales record for the group in 2013.  Of note is the continued strength of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the massive growth of the much-loved Fiat 500, and the sassy Alfa Romeo Guilietta."This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Carmakers spend up big on the annual Super Bowl commercials, with a 30-second in-game spot costing $3.7m and even slots at the start and end of the game commanding premium prices. It's money well spent if they can attract attention – and turn it into sales. And a good ad can go far beyond the game day, turning viral and getting millions of views. Volkswagen's Darth Vader from the 2011 Super Bowl and the hot Adriana Lima commercial from the 2012 Super Bowl are just two of the stars that went on to become global successes.So which were the big contenders this year? Mercedes-Benz was early out of the gates with a teaser featuring swimsuit model Kate Upton 'washing a car slowly'. The shapely Ms Upton didn't actually get her own hands wet – except to blow a bit of foam around – and her role seems to be mainly distracting the footballers who are doing all the hard work. Merc followed up with what must have been a costly exercise for the CLA, with a pact offered by Willem Dafoe as Satan, and the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil' as the soundtrack.Watch the Mercedes-Benz Kate Upton car wash adWatch the Mercedes-Benz Soul adWe reckon Coke filched ideas from two top Aussie movies. Their Coke Chase ad featured a gang of Mad Max baddies and a crew of showgirls in a pink Priscilla bus, vying with a Great Escape motorbike, a posse of cowboys and a camel-leading Arabian sheik – all in a race to a giant Coke bottle. The ad was the key creative in an online campaign that lets viewers vote to let three of the teams reach the bottle first – or delay the other teams by watching linked 'sabotage' videos. Watch the Coke Chase adThe early teaser for Toyota's 'Wish' spot featured The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco – it looked like fun and was backed up with the 'Careful What You Wish For' full ad, which gained much from Cuoco's perky personality as Penny.Watch the Toyota Wish teaser ad Watch the Toyota RAV4 Wish adKia's Space Babies teaser shows some fantastic CGI, and an even more fantastic answer to kids asking where they come from. The ad works well nearly right to the slightly lame ending, but it's doubtful it stacks up as something to rival their viral stars, the Soul Hamsters.Watch the Kia Space Baby adBut the Kia ad that had everybody talking -- including motoring journos -- was 'Hotbots', where a robotic motor show stand attendant (we don't call them booth babes here) gets revenge on a grubby guy.Watch the Kia HotBot adHyundai went all-out for the Super Bowl with several spots. The 'Team' one for Santa Fe was an early favourite, with some great performances from child actors -- and a very scary mum.Watch the Hyundai Santa Fe Team adThe 'Playdate' took you on an extreme day out of having fun and upsetting security guards, bikies and police, with the Flaming Lips providing the soundtrack.Watch the Hyundai Playdate adThe Genesis was talked up in 'Excited' with Hyundai touting its advantages over high end, and particularly German, luxury cars.Watch the Hyundai Genesis Excited adAnd then there was the aversion therapy of 'Stuck', showing some of the worst vehicles you can be stuck behind in traffic -- unless you have a Hyundai Sonata to overtake them, of course.Watch the Hyundai Sonata Stuck adVolkswagen ditched the Star Wars theme, and instead drafted reggae legend Jimmy Cliff for their 'Get Happy' teaser – and then got into a little hot water with the full ad, which shows Caucasian men taking off Jamaican accents. Perhaps it's still a Star Wars link ... the movie franchise faced similar accusations of racial stereotyping with the Jamaican-sounding Jar Jar Binks.Watch the VW Get Happy adWatch the VW Jimmy Cliff adVW then followed up with a low-key but effective 'bad dog' ad, showing what to do when the dog eats your car keys.Watch the VW Bad Dog adAudi tapped into every adolescent boy's fantasy with a lad heading off to prom night alone being tossed the keys to his dad's Audi S6, kissing the football jock's girlfriend and generally making it a night to remember.Watch the Audi Prom adFiat has launched a trio of ads for the 500L, all aimed at emphasising how much larger it is than the garden variety 500. Date, Sisters and Wedding are all flavoured with Italian dressing and – while not as scorching at the Catrinel Menghia Abarth ads – still manage to be cheeky.Watch the Fiat 500L Date adWatch the Fiat 500L Sisters adWatch the Fiat 500L Wedding adThe Chrysler group turned on the patriotism for their slightly saccharine ode to a farmer and Whole Again ads.Watch the Dodge Ram Farmer adWatch the Jeep  Whole again adAnd even snack food Doritos has got in on the car act, with one of the finalists for its Crash the Super Bowl ad playoff featuring the perfect solution to a back seat dog problem.Watch the Doritos Road Chip ad 

The Fiat Scudo must be one of the least known models in Australia. I had actually forgotten it was available here until I turned up to a recent Fiat Commercial event in Melbourne.

Though apparently a newcomer to Australia, the Fiat Punto was sold here between 2006 and 2010. It was expensive and not many changed hands before it was quietly slipped off the market downunder. Now the Punto is back with a bang. That's because Fiat Australia is now controlled by the Italian factory, not a private

Chrysler majority owner Fiat has announced that the US cluster of car brands will not launch a public stock offering this year. In a statement yesterday, Fiat said Chrysler's board has decided an initial public offering would be "not practicable" this year. Instead, Chrysler Group LLC will keep working towards an IPO in the first quarter of next year. Fiat holds 58.5 per cent of Chrysler's shares, with the rest owned by a United Auto Workers union trust fund. The IPO would consist of the trust's shares. The CEO of both car groups, Sergio Marchionne, is keen to avoid an IPO and have Fiat buy the trust's shares so the two companies can be fully combined, allowing him to spend Chrysler money on Fiat operations. "I'm not selling anything and nor do I think we need to do so," Marchionne said in October. However he filed the paperwork for an IPO as he and the trust have been in conflict over the price for a sale of the trust's share to Fiat, with no agreement reached. Last month, UBS AG set the value of the trust's stake at $US5.6 billion ($A6.1 billion). Fiat has gone to court seeking a judgement on the price, but the trial date is set for next September. While Fiat stepped in as a perceived 'saviour' to shore up the struggling Chrysler by buying into it two years ago, Chrysler's profits have been propping up Fiat on the balance sheet during 2013 as the Italian carmaker struggles in the European economic slump. Chrysler earned $US464 million last quarter on US sales of the Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee, its ninth-straight profitable quarter. The results boosted Fiat, which earned $US260 million in the third quarter. Without Chrysler's contribution, Fiat would have lost $US340 million.