After losing its way, Fiat is coming back to form with astute management and the new 500. Michael McAleer, Motoring Editor, reports
If the iPhone is causing a stir in the technology world, then Fiat is hoping to recreate some of the same public frenzy in motoring circles, starting tonight.
This evening over 250,000 people in Turin will be treated to fireworks and fanfare on a scale normally reserved for an Italian World Cup victory.
For a city so closely entwined in the heritage of a car brand, it's not surprising, and when you consider the car's history, the only question is why it's not a national holiday as well.
The hype is in aid of the launch of the new Fiat 500, a car that's based on principles of the tiny Cinquecento back in 1957. This little rear-engined transporter was to Italy what the Beetle was to Germany, and what the Mini was to England.
It put thousands of Italians on the road, offering no frills motoring in a simple compact package. For its efforts it won Italian hearts and those in several neighbouring countries.
Like its iconic counterparts, it sadly drifted off the forecourts in the 1970s, replaced by more upmarket models that lacked the artisan routes of the original.
Now Fiat is attempting to revive the model, and in turn remind people of its strong heritage. The company has suffered in recent years with falling sales as it expanded into various model sizes. However, at its heart Fiat has always been good at making small cars and the 500 could not have come at a more appropriate time.
With the passing of the Agnelli family patriarchs who ruled the company and with financial figures dangerously in the red, some were predicting the passing of the marque.
Fiat had lost its way in motoring terms. The Stilo - aimed at challenging the likes of the Ford Focus - was a flop, while recent attempts at larger cars, such as the Croma, have failed to sell in any great number.
Depreciation was an issue and a devotion to market share figures meant that the company was heavily dependent on selling to the rental companies for hefty discounts.
Thankfully, the new blood at the boardroom table recognise that the key to reinventing the brand is a return to what the brand knows best: small cars.
And its timing could not be better, with so much attention on emissions levels and more realistic assessments of motoring needs.
Fiat has already done well with the Panda, and the new 500 brings style and a remarkable quality finish to the brand, something many of its models have lacked in the past.
A lot of the recent revival in Fiat fortunes is down to the astute handling of chief executive Sergio Marchionne. He has turned a company that in 2004 was €10 billion in debt and had losses of €1.9 billion, into one that most recently reported profits of €2 billion and had €8 billion in the bank last year. It's a financial fairytale with Marchionne as the goose that lays the golden egg.
Now this new numeric car equates to a symbol of the brand's renaissance, timed to coincide with a revival of the company's fortunes.
It's not just a motoring symbol of a financial phoenix, however. Just the published images and concepts alone have evoked the same warm reactions as the original. Shown in various concept guises at recent shows, the new car is credited with being something more than a fancy body styling. When it takes to the streets and sales forecourts in its home market tomorrow, expect a mountainous order book.
Early indications are that it may well have a similar effect on sales elsewhere, including Ireland where it goes on sale at the end of the year.
While prices will be confirmed tomorrow, it's expected the new 500 will go on sale at the upper reaches of Panda prices, pitting it below €20,000 in Ireland. That's less than the rival Mini, but with similar quirky looks and features.
The 500's arrival also comes at a time when the British icon has been criticised for the quality of its interior plastics and switchgear in the latest generation.
It's as if the accountants have had a stronger input in the latest Mini in an effort to increase profit margins.
Meanwhile, indications are that the 500 will be better built than any recent model to come from Turin. That may seem surprising, but for all the financial faults of recent years, Fiat's resurrection has been created on some solid foundations.
For a start, its powertrain division - which produces engines not only for the brand but also for the likes of the Opel and Daimler's truck division - has long been recognised as one of the premium engine development specialists in Europe, particularly with small diesel and more recently with small petrol turbo technology.
With the new 500, we're likely to see both of these engine formats at play in the new model. A performance Abarth version is also on the cards.
The design is retro without abandoning modern principles, very much in line with the method used by BMW when it reinvented the Mini in 2001. That's hardly surprising, given that the chief designer of the new 500 was Frank Stephenson, poached by Maserati from BMW in 2002 and put to work in Turin in 2005. His first real efforts were to revise plans already in place for the Grande Punto and then a completely new Bravo. This is the third Stephenson creation for Fiat, and his best yet.
Built in the firm's Polish plant alongside the Panda, the new 500 shares its underpinnings with the next generation Ford Ka, which the Italians have secured a contract to build for the US car giant. That in itself suggests a confidence in the Polish production facility (even if that respect is not spread to all its production facilities).
Unlike the old 500, the new model will be front-engined, but will retain its four-seater format, while meeting all the current safety regulations and complete with several airbags and crash protection; something the original model was sorely lacking.
Fiat has already indicated through its online teaser campaign that multiple options will be available on the new car, allowing customers to bespoke the car with various optional colours and features.
The groundwork has been laid by Stephenson and the powertrain team for the 500 to outshine BMW's Mini, and become the new must-have motoring icon in urban areas.
If build quality is as good as reports suggest, and proper finance and pricing packages are in place, the Fiat will steal the show, deserving all the fanfare and fireworks Turin can muster tonight.
Fiat's launch party will be broadcast on the internet tonight at 9.30pm Irish time on www.youtube.com/500wantsyou. You can also watch tomorrow's press briefing at 8am at the same web address.
