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Thread: RIP Fiat 500: cancelled in North America (it's official)

  1. #11
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    Fiat has not won over the American consumer. The best year for the 500X was 2016 (12,599). M
    I think turbo 4's get a bad reputation sometimes they seem over worked put in vehicles too big for them. I think the 500x isn't that big a car, and with a 6 speed manual I think would be pretty sweet.

    Fiat's big problem is a bad reputation their cars' quality in past decades. Not sure what else, Americans like buying American even when their Jeeps are Fiat'-based, and made in Italy.


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    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    I think turbo 4's get a bad reputation sometimes they seem over worked put in vehicles too big for them. I think the 500x isn't that big a car, and with a 6 speed manual I think would be pretty sweet.

    Fiat's big problem is a bad reputation their cars' quality in past decades. Not sure what else, Americans like buying American even when their Jeeps are Fiat'-based, and made in Italy.
    Most long time Jeep owners aren't thrilled about the Fiat take over of Jeep.

    According to this article - There are 13 Fiat stand alone dealerships in the entire United States.

    https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/03/new...ure/index.html

    Our infatuation with horsepower has put a lot of junk on the market. We want it all - great horsepower and high mpg at the same time. I am not sold on turbo engines for any vehicle. I am not sure we are making great vehicles right now. There's to much focus on the wrong things, but that's just my opinion.

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    dspace9 (03-16-2019)

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    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    We want it all - great horsepower and high mpg at the same time.
    There is too much focus on convenience items and other gizmos that takes the driving experience away, in my opinion.

    For my basic economical wants in a car, there is a limited amount of small cars that have everything I want, including a bit more size wise than my current Mirage. Nice to sit up higher, and not many or any gizmos.

    I might have mentioned already that the Fiats in Ontario Canada are also sold at Chrysler dealers, mostly, though there are a handful of stand-alone Fiat dealers around. Their days are numbered here too I believe, you never see them on the road.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    There is too much focus on convenience items and other gizmos that takes the driving experience away, in my opinion.

    For my basic economical wants in a car, there is a limited amount of small cars that have everything I want, including a bit more size wise than my current Mirage. Nice to sit up higher, and not many or any gizmos.

    I might have mentioned already that the Fiats in Ontario Canada are also sold at Chrysler dealers, mostly, though there are a handful of stand-alone Fiat dealers around. Their days are numbered here too I believe, you never see them on the road.
    I totally get what you are saying. I find our car market to be frustrating. It's being driven by large vehicles. Ford dropping most of their cars in the U.S. is a prime example of this.

    I really like my Mirage, but it's not my only vehicle. If I only owned one vehicle, I would probably want something a little more, too.

    In my case, my Mirage compliments my older Subaru Forester. When I need AWD or the ability to tow something, I have that in my garage. I sort of like the Kia Soul, & that is why I mentioned it. For the money, they are a nice vehicle. They are popular for a reason. It's not uncommon for owners to be on their 2nd or 3rd one.

    Having said that, the Kia Soul can't do everything I want it to do either. If the Soul was my only vehicle, I would be disappointed in the lack of AWD & towing ability. I could have bought a Soul as my 2nd vehicle, but it's not as economical as the Mirage. Up to this point in my life, I have only bought manuals. That really limits choices, especially the past 10 years or so. I see that getting worst not better, too!

    The Mirage is a great second car! I really like most everything about it, but it wouldn't be my one & only vehicle choice. It's the perfect 2nd car choice for me, however!

    The above article in the previous post states - "Americans bought far more Alfa Romeos than Fiats this year." I didn't even know Alfa Romeos were sold here. I couldn't even tell you the name of one model. Fiat is hurting, & Chrysler is not in the position to save anyone. Jeep has kept Chrysler a float in my opinion. Some Jeep owners are a loyal bunch. Given some of what Jeep is putting out, they have to be!
    Last edited by Mark; 03-16-2019 at 03:58 AM.

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    the fiat has a cuteness that folks love and name recognition but also is haunted by bad brand reliability and actual reliability issues whereas the mirage is cheaper better on fuel and reliable thats why I bought one even though my heart wanted the fiat

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    Cobrajet (04-01-2019)

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    FCA knows they will only sell a handful of 500 EVs each year. And they don't care.

    The 500 is only being kept around to offset the CAFE costs of all the damned gigantic Ram dump trucks being sold every year. It is the same reason GM kept the Geo/Chevy Metro around in the 1990s even though they lost money on every one they sold.

  10. #17
    But that's the thing: they have to actually sell them to benefit on CAFE. (Speaking of gas cars. EV's have their own set of rules, thus there are plenty of "compliance cars" like the 500 EV that merely have to exist, and which the companies don't really want to sell.)

    I'm curious what makes you say the Metros were money-losers in the 90's.

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    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    I'm curious what makes you say the Metros were money-losers in the 90's.
    The Suzuki executive in charge of the CAMI factory that built them actually said so back in the day, IIRC.

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    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    The Suzuki executive in charge of the CAMI factory that built them actually said so back in the day, IIRC.
    The CAMI plant isn't far from my house, and it's a HUGE building. In fact, I can't think of a bigger factory around. CAMI, that's where the Equinox's are built.

    The plant began as a Suzuki GM facility in the 80s I think, kinda like how the Mitsu-Chrysler North American manufacturing was at one point building on the same production line half American cars, half Japanese cars same car.
    Last edited by dspace9; 04-06-2019 at 07:37 AM.

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  14. #20
    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    The CAMI plant isn't far from my house, and it's a HUGE building. In fact, I can't think of a bigger factory around. CAMI, that's where the Equinox's are built.

    The plant began as a Suzuki GM facility in the 80s I think, kinda like how the Mitsu-Chrysler North American manufacturing was at one point building on the same production line half American cars, half Japanese cars same car.
    Apparently, it was a very big factory producing a relatively small number of low-margin economy cars back when gas was $0.79 a gallon. Which is why GM lost money on Metros. Keep in mind that it wasn't a huge loss per car. But the Metro was never profitable.



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