Fiat leaving U.S? Trying to boost 500 sales with turbo-only engine for 2018
Anybody else see this news?
FCA is going with only turbo engines in the Fiat 500 in the U.S. for 2018, adding 34 horsepower:
Fiat announced that 2018 model year 500s will all use the 1.4-liter MultiAir turbocharged engine, the same one found in the Fiat 500 Abarth and the 124 Spider and phasing out the normal-breathing unit. Power has been bumped from the naturally aspirated output of 101 horsepower to 135.
https://jalopnik.com/all-2018-fiat-5...ged-1822868799
The car hasn't been selling well in the U.S. -- sales peaked in 2012 and have been falling since then. The Mirage has outsold it by a good margin for the past 2 calendar years:
Year |
Fiat 500 US sales
|
Mirage US sales
|
2014
|
33708 |
16708 |
2015
|
25084 |
21515 |
2016
|
15437 |
22226 |
2017
|
12685 |
22386 |
I wonder if the turbo is going to boost sales. (Sorry. Couldn't resist )
People probably don't generally cross-shop the Mirage against the 500, but I know a few members here have test-driven or owned them.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 62.4 mpg (US) ... 26.5 km/L ... 3.8 L/100 km ... 74.9 mpg (Imp)