500 coming to US!

[Kevin1]

Who wants to buy a Healey? I have to make room.


http://www.leftlanenews.com/nardelli-fi ... to-us.html
Nardelli: Fiat 500 to come to U.S.
04/30/2009, 1:25 PM
By Andrew Ganz

Though he says he will be stepping down from his post by the time it would go on sale, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli indicated that the Fiat 500 will be homolgated soon for sale in the United States. The diminutive retro-hatchback that has been a hit in Europe would likely first be imported before North American production would begin.

Though no official word has come out of Chrysler’s Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters about future products, Nardelli’s statements confirmed the speculation that the 500 was bound for the U.S.

Rumors persist that the 500 will not be eligible for sale in Canada in its current state, however, because of the height of the headlamps. When the original Fiat 500 was sold in North America, it received revised “bug eye” headlamps in order to conform with different standards, though slapping a pair of spotlight-esque lights on the front of a 500 seems less likely today.

Fiat has said that most of its vehicles were designed with U.S. and Canadian crash and emissions standards in mind since European standards are similarly strict.

The 500 is currently sold in Mexico, where it starts at less than $17,000 for the entry-level model, which includes air conditioning, ABS, seven airbags, Bluetooth, a CD player and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Its 1.4-liter four-cylinder pumps out 100-horsepower and 131 lb-ft. of torque.

[sjmst]

It will be my daily driver.

[So Cal Mark]

I'm hoping to get one, but I'm worried about US bumper standards etc that might change the car completely. And I'm not thrilled about having to visit a Chrysler dealership to buy it either

[Kevin1]

I'm hoping to get one, but I'm worried about US bumper standards etc that might change the car completely. And I'm not thrilled about having to visit a Chrysler dealership to buy it either

I agree, and had made an earlier post about fear of "Americanizing" the 500, turning it into a 7 passenger, 2 ton road hammer. Hopefully the 500 was one of Fiat's cars that were designed with US requirements in mind and any changes will be minimal. Fiat plans to import them before starting manufacturing here.
As far as visiting a Chrysler dealer, won't they be FIAT dealers, soon? It will be interesting to see how the dealerships treat these cars. Will they take the time to train salesman so they can speak intellignetly about them, or treat them as a nusience that they have to put up with?

[Firezombie]

Fiat back in North Amercia, and they eventually will own Chrysler. Wow. I wouldn't have guessed that a year ago! I am hoping they make the necessary mods on the 500 so they can sell up here in Canada in the near future!

[pope]

Dont kid yourself, Fiat only owns 20% and later on might be allowed to buy into 35%. The UAW retirees fund owns over 50% of Chrysler, and you know they wont give that back. Lets see if Chrysler can survive the next 60 days first in bankruptcy court.
By the way, Ford outsold Toyota in April.

[spiderrey]

go ford..

[So Cal Mark]

does selling more indicate anything except sales volume? I've been watching the new car ads with the massive discounts on SUVs and trucks. It will be interesting to look back at the profit/loss from selling all of those vehicles. Didn't Obama just commit the US govt to purchase of many thousand Fords?

[pope]

Every major car company that is selling in America is losing money right now.

Wall Street Journal says "Every major auto maker reported dramatic declines from year-earlier levels. Toyota Motor Co., with a 42% slide, fell behind Ford Motor Co. in the monthly tally for the first time since early 2008, even as Ford's sales fell 32%. GM sales dropped 33% and Chrysler registered a 48% decline. Honda Motor Co. saw its U.S. sales drop 25% and Nissan Motor Co. was off 38%. BMW North America stated that it is a dust bowl in terms of sales"

Toyota has been selling the Prius for almost a decade, sold almost 1,000,000 of them and to this day loses money on each vehicle. It was the Camry that helped offset the loses. Now, Toyota is not making any money here and has delayed the building of the Prius plant in Mississippi. Honda has come out with their Insight which is to compete against the Prius, with a lower price. Meaning Honda will lose even more money and Toyota dropped their price to get closer to the cost of the Honda meaning that Toyota will lose even more on every vehicle.

There is no profit in the electric vehicle car by anyone and the US Government told GM and Chrysler " We want you to sell more of the NO PROFIT vehicles.

The one item that nobody has been talking about is the replacement costs for batteries—because nobody is replacing them. That's what I thought until I received an email from Ray Molton, who works in the real estate industry in Houston, Texas. Ray wrote, "My 2002 Toyota Prius lasted five years and 113,000 miles. And then the batteries seemed to die. My dealer estimated the replacement cost at $7,000. They recommended scrapping the car for parts."

A reader wrote, I HAVE A 2006 PRIUS, BOUGHT NEW, I KNOW HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT HAS NOW 170,000 MILES ON IT. AT 160,000 MILES I HAD MY 1ST PROBLEM. I HAD BEEN DRIVING IT ALL DAY, STOPPED AT A 7-11, CAME OUT, STARTED IT, COULDN'T GET IT TO EXCEED 20 MPH, DROVE IT TO DEALER, THEY SPENT THE REST OF THE DAY TESTING AND DECIDED THAT IT WAS THE TRANS AXLE, 5600.00 LATER IT IS RUNNING AGAIN LIKE NEW. MY MAIN CONCERN, WAS I TAKEN FOR A RIDE???? ALSO NOW THE HEADLIGHTS FLICKER, SOMETIMES GO OFF AND HAVE TO BE RECYCLED TO COME BACK ON. TOOK IT TO DEALER, THEY SAID EACH HEADLIGHT HAD ITS OWN COMPUTER AND IT IS OVERHEATING. WANT 1600.00 TO REPAIR. ANYONE ELSE WITH THIS, HEARD THERE IS A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT, BUT CANNOT FIND ANY INFO ON THIS.


All I am saying is that this is new technology and the cost structure has not been worked out yet by any company, and am not picking on any individual company.

[So Cal Mark]

the Japanese model has always been to enter a market with an operating loss, garner control over it then raise prices to a profitable level.

Read a full page ad in the paper this morning from Chrysler touting the new, lean company and the alliance with Fiat. They claimed to have the best warranty in the business, but with an asterisk. The small print says the warranty is non-transferable. Thereby slamming the resale value of their new, lean vehicles

[mdrburchette]

Many manufacturers and individual dealers have had stipulations on their "Best warranty in the business". Some let you transfer the warranty for a fee, others mandate all service and maintenance be done at an authorized service center.