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

  1. #1

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

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    Another small car bites the dust!

    A Fiat executive has said that the next gen (2020) Fiat 500 will be EV only.

    [UPDATE - confirmed cancelled for North America - see post #32.]

    Fiat in the U.S. could not reveal any more information about the Centoventi or its production intent, saying it’s just a concept. But FCA chief marketing officer Olivier François told Top Gear something quite different: that it previews the strategy behind an all-new Fiat 500e due just a year from now—one that will be electric-only.
    Source: https://www.greencarreports.com/news...utive-confirms

    An EV-only option will not meaningfully reverse the 500's sales in the U.S., which have been plummeting:

    U.S. Fiat 500 Sales vs. Mirage Sales:

    Year Fiat 500 sales
    Mirage sales
    2012 43,772 -
    2013 36,375 2935
    2014 33,708 16,708
    2015 25,084 21,515
    2016 15,587 22,226
    2017 12,685 22,386
    2018 5,370 24,316
    2019 (Jan/Feb) 468 3362

    http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales...fiat/fiat-500/

    You just have to look at what happened to the Smart Fortwo's sales when it went EV-only.

    Mirage is poised to continue taking a bigger slice of a shrinking small car pie (eg. thread: RIP Nissan Versa Note - report says it's cancelled &nbsp


    Ciao, 500!

    ===

    Related thread: Fiat leaving U.S? Trying to boost 500 sales with turbo-only engine for 2018


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  2. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to MetroMPG For This Useful Post:

    Daox (03-14-2019),dspace9 (03-15-2019),inuvik (03-14-2019),MirageSEFan (03-14-2019),Top_Fuel (03-14-2019)

  3. #2
    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    I would think fuel mileage is somewhat of a consideration for buyers of smaller cars. When I look at the numbers of the Fiat 500, they are somewhat underwhelming for a tiny car...

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        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    inuvik (03-14-2019),MetroMPG (03-14-2019),Pryme (03-15-2019)

  5. #3
    Yeah, Fiat put the thirstier turbo motor in every 500 for 2018/2019 to try to revive sales.

    Related thread: Fiat leaving U.S? Trying to boost 500 sales with turbo-only engine for 2018

    Didn't work!

    Prior to that, the base engine was rated for 38 mpg US highway / 34 combined with the stick (and undoubtedly higher in the real world, since the EPA test procedure handicaps manuals, as many here already know).

    I'm pretty sure we have a member here who was getting low-40's combined out of an older manual 500.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    I wonder how this will impact Fiat's perceived and actual reliability? No engine, no transmission to fail.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post



    An EV-only option will not meaningfully reverse the 500's sales in the U.S., which have been plummeting:
    Part of me wants to buy a 500X Fiat brand new once my Mirage is paid off, but one of my worries is that the local Chrysler dealer nearby that currently sells Fiats, won't sell any Fiats it doesn't sell...

    If they don't import a 2021 Fiat 500X then I probably won't get the black 6 speed manual 500X I want.
    Yet ugh for me who likes cars like this not all's cup of tea
    Last edited by dspace9; 03-15-2019 at 09:55 AM.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Bleck, another car lost to electrification (and declining sales).

    I would have cross-shopped the SMART with the Mirage if there were still a gas option.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


  9. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    I would think fuel mileage is somewhat of a consideration for buyers of smaller cars. When I look at the numbers of the Fiat 500, they are somewhat underwhelming for a tiny car...

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    And premium fuel. Yikes

  10. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by dspace9 View Post
    Part of me wants to buy a 500X Fiat brand new once my Mirage is paid off, but one of my worries is that the local Chrysler dealer nearby that currently sells Fiats, won't sell any Fiats it doesn't sell...

    If they don't import a 2021 Fiat 500X then I probably won't get the black 6 speed manual 500X I want.
    Yet ugh for me who likes cars like this not all's cup of tea
    5,223 Fiat 500X crossovers were sold in 2018 vs. 97,062 Jeep Renegades. You may be right about this car not being everyone's "cup of tea"? A Fiat manual transmission eliminates the AWD option that can be had with a Renegade. You probably know all that, however.

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  12. #9
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    You may be right about this car not being everyone's "cup of tea"? A Fiat manual transmission eliminates the AWD option that can be had with a Renegade.
    I did not know how the Jeep outsellfs the Fiat 20:1. I have thought about the AWD/FWD thing with the 500x, the engine in the FWD manual is smaller, but it's still a turbo. I plan on doing a Mirage-500x unofficial comparison from doing a possible test drive this spring.

    The front wheel drive 500x has pretty decent fuel economy ratings, about 7.0 L/100 kms so that's not bad for the type of car it is.

        __________________________________________

        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
    I did not know how the Jeep outsellfs the Fiat 20:1. I have thought about the AWD/FWD thing with the 500x, the engine in the FWD manual is smaller, but it's still a turbo. I plan on doing a Mirage-500x unofficial comparison from doing a possible test drive this spring.

    The front wheel drive 500x has pretty decent fuel economy ratings, about 7.0 L/100 kms so that's not bad for the type of car it is.
    Fiat has not won over the American consumer. The best year for the 500X was 2016 (12,599). Meanwhile KIA sold 145,768 Soul vehicles that same year. 2018 was a down year for the Soul, and it was still 104,709 sold. When the updated model comes out, it will jump back up. 147,133 Souls were sold in 2015.

    This is why I have said this before - Mitsubishi missed the boat with Eclipse Cross. They didn't need to wedge a crossover between their Outlander & Outlander Sport. They should have went for the compact crossover market. People want an AWD type Soul. KIA is not making it, and apparently the 500X is not that vehicle either.

    Small turbo engine would be my last choice for an engine, but that's popular now. Our desire for large vehicles has hurt the small car market here. I don't blame Mirage owners for that, however!


    Last edited by Mark; 03-16-2019 at 12:52 AM.

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