Fiat 500 2013 News

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 

You know you're getting old when car comfort is more important than a stoplight sprint. Either that or, like me, you've recently spent too much time with doctors and comfort suddenly becomes the single most important thing in your driving day.I love the Ferrari 458, but right now I would hobble straight past the rip-snorter Italian thoroughbred on the way to a cushy Jaguar XJ limo. It would be the same situation for my first-choice funster, the Porsche Cayman.I've recently driven a race-prepared Fiat 500 Abarth and the pain was almost - almost - worse than the pleasure of romping the pocket rocket around the high-speed swoops and curves of Phillip Island. I was more than happy to slide back into the cushiness of a Chrysler 300 for the drive home, even if the seats in the motown monster don't give as much support as I normally like.The ride back to the airport got me thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of a number of vehicles that have recently passed through the Carsguide garage, focusing on how they make you feel in the body instead of in the head. Every week there are emails to CarsGuide from people of age, asking about upgrading - from a conventional passenger car into something in the SUV style that's easier on the hips and legs at mounting and dismounting time.An SUV can look like a good idea on the comfort front, but lots have bench-flat seats, crappy ergonomics and nowhere near enough suspension compliance. The Subaru Forester has a nice ride, but I prefer the seats in the Toyota RAV4. On the car front, the new Nissan Pulsar has seats that do nothing for me, but the Renault Clio is surprisingly comfy for a little, affordable car.My top favourite seat is a Recaro racing bucket that is almost shrink-wrapped to my shape, like a bathtub full of jelly that provides perfect support. But it's just about the toughest seat to get into or away from. So, right now, the first-choice comfort car is a Range Rover. It's stupidly expensive, but everything works for me, from a body that drops down on its air springs for easy access to beautifully-shaped front buckets finished in lovely leather and even a user-friendly automatic gearbox that means my left leg never has to move out of its comfort zone.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

As the Australian car sales race heads into the final quarter lap for 2013, most eyes are on what will be the top car. But further back in the field, there’s been a big improvement for several European models, which are posting sales lifts of up to 1000 per cent as a result of aggressive price cuts.Leading the charge is Fiat’s 500 which was slashed more than $10,000 in June, and now starts at just $14,000. This resulted in 310 buyers last month, compared to just 86 before the price drop. The little Italian car has increased in sales at the rate of 850 per cent every month since June, in a market that shrank by almost 15 per cent.Fiat as a whole is benefiting too, with the 1765 sales so far this year being more than a 500 per cent increase over the 328 at this stage in 2012. While the Fiat 500 is attracting customers, established competitors like the Holden Barina, Nissan Micra, Suzuki Alto and Swift and Toyota Yaris have meanwhile seen a decline in sales year-to-date.This means that for the first time, the 500 is outselling more than half its competitors. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s small models, which also received price cuts recently, have returned positive results – albeit on fairly low numbers. MiTo has doubled in sales in the premium light car segment from 23 to 45, while its larger sibling, Giulietta – in a field that includes the Toyota Corolla, Holden Cruze and Mazda 3, found 324 new homes compared to just 88 before the new pricing strategy.The local HQ says the surge in sales is due to sharper pricing and specifications and more dealership support. “The success is a result of a combination of factors: an expanded and engaged dealer network, streamlined vehicle spec levels and sharper pricing – as well as strong and smart marketing support,” Fiat and Alfa Romeo spokesperson Karla Leach says.With the international launch of the new Alfa Romeo 4C sport car this week – estimated to cost somewhere around $75,000 when it arrives here -- the Italian brand is buckling up for the challenge of luring customers with a few more dollars to spend. Leach says Fiat and Alfa Romeo have serious intentions to keep strengthening their position here. “We have strong ambition for the continued growth of these brands in Australia,” she says. But it’s not just Italians aggressively tackling the entry level market.Renault last month introduced the cheapest Clio ever, firmly cementing the French brand into the budget light car segment with an entry-level price of under $17,000. Keen to be seen as a viable alternative, Renault has hit hard at competitors, offering five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and fixed price servicing. Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar said at the Clio unveiling last month that the brand has high expectations of the car.“We have a fantastic value proposition in terms of a beautifully designed vehicle with high levels of personalisation, at an extremely competitive price.” he said. Traditional options like Mazda, Hyundai and Toyota still dominate the light and small car segments, but European rivals are fighting hard to gain credibility as mainstream brands.The big winners are the buyers, who may now afford to consider Italian design, French flair or German precision for the same price as more established mainstream manufacturers. The exception to the success story is Opel, which failed to accrue enough buyers in its very short stint in Australia. Despite competitive prices, the German brand disappeared in August, posting less than 1,000 sales this year between the Astra and Corsa small cars combined. 

Fiat is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the original Abarth 595 at the 1963 Turin Motor Show by launching a tribute edition based on its latest 500 hatch.  And we can expect to see the newcomer here next year."We are hoping to get some of the Abarth 595’s in Australia, but exact volumes are still to be confirmed," Fiat-Chrysler spokesperson Karla Leach says.  "We expect to have them in Australia by mid-year,  2014."The modern version will don the famous red and white livery of the original but will make its debut at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show this week, following which just 299 examples will be built.The modern Abarth 595 carries the same engine as the current Abarth 695, a 132kW/250Nm turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder matched to what’s referred to as an “Abarth Competizione” gearbox -- an automated manual unit that channels drive to the front wheels. Other specs include 17-inch alloy wheels, uprated Brembo brakes and new shock absorbers. There’s also a sports exhaust system dubbed the Record Monza.Just as the exterior has been designed to match that of the original, so has the cabin, which sports red leather trim, red stitching and a dashboard that is also red. The historical logo adorns both the black leather steering wheel with red inserts, and custom door sills have also been fitted.The original Abarth 595 helped put the Abarth brand on the map. It proved an immediate success thanks to its strong performance, unusual for such a small car, and helped deliver many race victories.www.motorauthority.com 

Fiat has pulled out all the stops to be part of a new music video for a track that has already become known as ‘the Fiat song’ from previous ads.All the Sexy People, sung by Arianna with help from Pitbull, looks set to be another Fiat video hit with appearances from Charlie Sheen – his second stint for the brand – a beach full of dancers and a couple of mermaids who lose their tops.The song itself has a retro flavour, and has previously been used for Fiat’s ‘Immigrant’ ad, which saw the little 500 model emerging from the ocean onto US beaches – a stunt reprised in All the Sexy People with a Fiat 500 jetski.A video takes us behind the scenes for the shoot on a Miami beach in Florida, with the expected crowd scenes of women dancing around in bikinis – and Charlie Sheen playing Charlie Sheen (or his former character from Two and a Half Men).Arianna drives a Fiat underwater,  a pod of Fiats skim the waves, Sheen circles two mermaids on his own private island and makes off with their tops, then turns up in a cryovac bed with a pair of lingerie models.Following on from the steamy ads featuring supermodel Catrinel Menghia, this is becoming signature marketing for the Italian car brand.

  

Mumbrella reports the Advertising Standards Board has declared the ad too sexual. As opposed to, say, every ice cream commercial ever made.And those Kia commercials that should be outlawed on the grounds of being insanely annoying. 

The award, according to the press blurb, is intended to highlight new vehicles with innovation and style that push established boundariesOddly, in this case the winner is an echo of established boundaries, a retro-active rethink of the iconic model dating back to 1957, which has been a roaring success with buyers since its revival last year.And it seems also a success with the judges, who foamed with mouthfuls of superlatives.The car “does a brilliant job of capturing the visual appeal of the original version while meeting modern design and engineering standards” … “pushes the emotional hot buttons of several generations of people who might never have driven one of the early models” … “is genuine, straightforward, without gimmicks”.And knowing that the Fiat shuns gimmickry, you’ll be delighted to hear that a special Barbie version is doing the rounds.It’s bright pink of course. And not just any bright pink, but finished in a paint that looks like nail polish.Inside, the upholstery is a matching pink, trimmed with silver Alcantara, while the floor mats have been woven with natural silk.The vanity mirror is lit up with LED bulbs and there is a stock of lip glosses in the glove compartment.But all that by itself would be a bit subdued for the plastic fashionista, so a couple of chandeliers worth of crystals have been splattered over the hubcaps, window framing and interior trim, with a few on the ounted aerial to match.The one-off Fiat 500 Barbie was designed and produced as a joint project between Fiat’s Centro Stile (style centre) and the doll’s handler, toymaker Mattel.The car is currently on tour as part of the celebrations for the 50th birthday of the doll with the impossibly-shaped body ... although there are admittedly similar-looking 50-year-old women on the Gold Coast, many of them with an even higher plastic content.Apparently the car is being driven from time to time by a live `Ken’ doll, who is chauffering a live `Barbie’ around in it.And that bit of news had us completely flummoxed, because that means it must have an engine where we imagined there would be only a smooth sweep of plastic.After all, if the little pink Fiat was a true part of Barbie’s world there’s no way it could be anatomically correct. 

While it may spend its life on racetracks, the tiny Fiat Abarth 500 Assetto Corse will be a wild little thing. It is powered by a four-cylinder turbocharged 1.4-litre engine that puts out 147kW of power and 300Nm of torque. It will have a six-speed gearbox and full racing trim that includes 17-inch ultralight racing wheels, an aerodynamic rear spoiler and racing front grille, complete with twin air-intakes. Although gaining a full racing roll-cage for safety, the baby Fiat race car will be 180kg lighter than the road car. They will be available in any colour you want, as long as it is pastel grey with red stripes. Fiat released the first pictures of the new car this week. Fiat Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says the car will be raced in a series of one-marque national championships throughout Europe from next year. Rowe says the power output of the baby racer is twice that of the Fiat 500 cars used in the celebrity challenge at this year's Australian Grand Prix. Fiat's involvement in personalising the car and the series extends to the Italian marque providing full racing outfits for each driver. An appearance Down Under is unlikely as there is not a natural category for it to race in. Fiat has no plans to introduce a one-make championship in Australia as BMW has done with the Mini Challenge for Mini Cooper racing cars that started this year. But Rowe says the company has received expressions of interest from drivers in Australia to race versions of the sporty Fiat 500 Abarth road car due here next year. They would most likely contest production car championship events, including the Bathurst 12 Hour race. Fiat Abarth racing cars were a common sight on European racetracks and rallies in the 1960s. The most successful model was the 850TC. In Australia, two Fiat 600s (the larger version of the 500) contested the first Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island in 1960, the forerunner of the Bathurst 1000.   Snapshot Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse Price: N/A Engine: 1.4L/4-cylinder turbo 147kW/300Nm Transmission: 6-speed manual  

The most frugal version of Fiat's baby 500 model, using a small diesel, consumes less than Japan's best hybrids, which can cost about $10,000 more. A flood of imported new-generation diesel models has arrived, delivering fuel consumption of better than five litres per 100km — equivalent to 56mpg. Most are able to drive about 1000km without visiting a service station. However, these bowser-beaters are small cars with premium prices. The new champ is the 500 diesel version, rated at 4.2 litres per 100km in official testing, and costing $25,990. Petrol 500s, which are slightly thirstier, start from about $23,000. The most popular hybrids, using an electric motor teamed with a petrol engine, are the Toyota Prius (4.4 litres/100km, from $37,400) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (4.6 litres/100km, $32,990). The first batch of diesel 500s for Queensland buyers is expected to arrive soon, but petrol versions are already here. New owner Kitty Mackay, of New Farm in inner Brisbane, has just bought a Fiat 500 from a dealer. “With me, it's a nostalgia thing,” she said. “I had a Fiat 500 when I was going to uni in the '70s. Also, I'm doing my little bit for the environment.” She said it c to fill the tank, which was still half-full after five days of heavy use. “It's fun, it's cute and it fits all the shopping in the boot, no trouble at all,” she said. “It's a really handy little car for everything and a perfect, perfect, perfect town car.” The 1.4 litre 500 Sport has a list price of $26,990, but Ms Mackay's came with extras including red leather upholstery, red stripes, sunroof and tinted windows, making it $35,000 on-road. “That's a lot to pay for a little car, but it's worth it,” she said. Meanwhile, the Queensland Government, which has had hybrid cars on its fleet since getting six of the first Toyota Prius hatchbacks in 2001, is adding Honda Civic Hybrids. The first 10 Hondas have just been delivered, with another 40 on the way this year to join QFleet's stock of 177 hybrids. Premier Anna Bligh said: “The cars we buy are important as they not only end up in the government fleet but then in the community.”   Fuel misers Fiat 500 diesel 4.2L/100km Citroen C3 diesel 4.4L/100km Fiat Punto diesel 4.4L/100km Toyota Prius 4.4L/100km Audi A3 1.9 diesel 4.5L/100km Citroen C4 diesel 4.5L/100km Honda Civic Hybrid 4.6L/100km