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:
https://jalopnik.com/all-2018-fiat-5...ged-1822868799Fiat 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.
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.