2012 Fiat 500 Sport on 2040-cars

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Fiat 600e unveiled as a retro-flavored, 500-inspired crossover

Fiat's model offensive continues with the launch of a crossover named 600e. Developed primarily for the European market, the soft-roader borrows several heritage-laced styling cues from the latest version of the 500, and it will be offered with hybrid and electric drivetrains. Named after one of Fiat's all-time best-sellers, and built on the same platform as the Jeep Avenger, the 600e stretches approximately 164 inches long, 70 inches wide, and 60 inches tall. It's about three inches shorter and lower than the 500X, and both models feature similar proportions, but the 600e isn't the 500X's direct replacement — the two models will be sold side-by-side for an undetermined period of time. Visually, the 600e borrows several styling cues from the 500e, including oval headlights with LED accents. There's no "Fiat" emblem on the front end, the bumpers wears a "600" badge, while the bottom part of the bumper gets a big, body-colored air vent. The 500e influence continues out back with vertical lights. Black accents on the bumpers, wheel arches, and rocker panels add a rugged touch to the design. The similarities between the 600e and the 500e continue inside, and that's not a bad thing — the 500e's interior impressed us when we drove a European-market model in Italy earlier in 2023. The driver faces a two-spoke steering wheel, a seven-inch digital instrument cluster with a refreshingly simple design, and a 10.25-inch touchscreen for the Uconnect infotainment system. Fiat added several clever features, including a folding cover for the center console's storage compartment, and the 600e offers approximately 12.7 cubic feet of trunk space. Fiat will add a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain to the 600e range during the first half of 2024. Until then, the crossover will exclusively be offered with an electric drivetrain that consists of a 54-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack and a 154-horsepower motor that zaps the front wheels into motion. Driving range checks in at up to 248 miles when tested using Europe's WLTP cycle, which leans towards the optimistic side of the scale, and the system is compatible with 100-kilowatt fast-charging. Fiat quotes nine seconds to reach 62 mph from a stop. On sale now, the Fiat 600e will reach European showrooms in September 2023. There's no word on whether we'll see it in the United States. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

FCA profits surge in second quarter

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles gave the cash register a beating in the second quarter, improving its net profit to 333 million euros ($364M US), which is a 263-percent jump over its reported Q1 profit of 92 million euros ($108M US). At the same time, FCA improved its global profit margin to 7.7 percent. Compared year-over-year, in Q2 2014 FCA reported net profit of 197 million euros making this year's Q2 a 69-percent increase, and profit margins a year ago were 4.9 percent. The two big factors for this increase are strong NAFTA sales and Jeep. In the US alone, Jeep sold 222,940 units in Q2 this year, a jump of almost 20 percent over the same period last year. Revenue in the NAFTA region totaled $18.8 billion, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes were $1.45 billion, both of those numbers more than doubling compared to 2014. The vastly better numbers come on marginally more global sales, 1,181,000 units sold in Q2 2014, 1,193,000 units sold in the same span this year. In the US, FCA began charging dealers one-percent more for vehicles to up the margins, a move that helped boost its US margin from 4.1 percent a year ago to 5.8 percent the first half of this year. The company is holding steady on its guidance of global deliveries at 4.8 million and its net profit guidance at $1.1 to $1.3 billion. It has increased its adjusted outlook for the year to $120.5 billion in revenue, and EBIT to "over $4.93 billion." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Jeep FCA

Second-generation Fiat 500 grows up, goes electric, gets posh

Going to the design well to reinvent an icon is difficult, especially when it's one of your greatest hits, so Fiat walked a thin line as it developed the first new 500 since 2007. Unveiled online, the hatchback is just as huggable as its predecessor — which is sticking around — and it honors tradition while embracing cutting-edge technology. Motorists long nourished on a diet of value-packed, bargain-priced Fiat models are in for a rude surprise. The new 500 rubs elbows with respected luxury cars, at least on paper, and it has morphed into more of an Instagram-friendly fashion statement than a genuine people's car. Stylists brought its retro-inspired design into the 2020s without completely reinventing it. It's still shaped like the 500 you're familiar with, though it's a little bit longer and wider than before and its wheelbase gains about an inch. Its front fascia wears a unmissable 500 emblem flanked by bright trim, its headlights are mounted higher and integrated into the hood, and its door handles are chiseled into the body. Out back, the vertical lights return with a more sculpted design. The line-up will ultimately include the quasi-convertible shown here, a hardtop, plus a wagon called Giardiniera and envisioned as a modern interpretation of the eponymous long-roof sold from the 1950s to the 1970s. Bigger changes welcome the passengers into the cabin. The driver sits behind a two-spoke steering wheel and a configurable, 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, while a 10.25-inch touchscreen propped up on the dashboard displays a new version of the well-regarded Uconnect infotainment system. It looks decidedly more upmarket than the 500 it replaces, though it's difficult to tell without seeing in person and sitting in it — thanks, coronavirus. Fiat made the new 500 all electric, all the time. It's built on a 42-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that zaps a 118-horsepower electric motor into motion. Its maximum driving range checks in at 199 miles, though the Italian firm obtained that figure by putting its city car through the optimistic WLTP testing cycle. It takes nine seconds to reach 62 mph from a stop, it has a 93-mph top speed, and plugging it into an 85-kilowatt charger fills 80% of the battery in 35 minutes. Alternatively, you'll need to wait 14 hours for a full charge if you plug it into the same household-spec outlet you use to keep your phone and your laptop juiced up.