The following article describes the success of Fiat in the production of new cars such as the Punto, Bravo and 500.
August 5, 2008
THE remarkable revival of Fiat began with the popularity of the Grande Punto, continued with the new Bravo and switched into overdrive with the euphoria surrounding the arrival a year ago of the Fiat 500 that is European Car of the Year 2008.
The company announced record profits and there are plans for a raft of new models.
The cute little Fiat 500 is being hailed as the ultimate city car, with prices from just £7,900.
At the top end of the range a highly specified version of the Fiat 500 with a larger 1.4-litre petrol engine or 1.3-litre diesel unit costs £10,700 including air conditioning and alloy wheels.
There are three trim levels of Pop, Sport and Lounge.
Standard equipment in the entry-level Pop includes front, side and driver's knee airbags, CD and MP3 players, power steering, colourcoded bumpers and chrome-plated door handles.
Sport and Lounge versions start at £9,300.
The Grande Punto range has been expanded with the 1.4 T-Jet 120 Sporting model and given a five-year warranty.
The T-Jet petrol engine uses the latest turbo-charging technology to maximise power and torque with relatively low emissions and fuel consumption.
Available in t hree and five-door versions, it is based on the range's Sporting trim level and comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, air conditioning, spor ts seats, leather steering wheel, chrome tailpipe, spoiler and side skirts, electronic stability control and half a dozen air bags.
It also featu res Fiat's voice-activated music and communications system.
The 1,368cc petrol power-plant is one of a new family of turbocharged T-Jet engines that made their debut in Fiat's new Bravo range.
This engine gives t he Grande Punto a 0-60mph time of 8.8 seconds with economy of 40mpg and a CO2 figure of 155g/km.
Prices are £12,395 for the three-door model and £12,995 for the five-door version.
The Bravo hatch range comes with a wide choice of engines including 1.9-litre turbo diesel MultiJets of 120 and 150bhp and a new family of 1.4-litre turbo-charged T-JET petrol engines of 120 and 150bhp.
1 comments:
Gentlemen,
FIAT’s SpA recent upswing can, in large part, be traced to office of the new CEO, a fellow Canadian, Sergio Marchionne, LLB (Osgood Hall Law School). He removed useless managerial ballast, networked-collaborated with other manufacturers, used the considerable high-tech capacity of Italian industry in its new products, and finally, perhaps most importantly, came to an agreement (however temporary) with Italian labour unions. For those who don’t know, Italian labour unions are an authority onto themselves, the Italian Communist Party and Karl Marx. They are, by wide agreement, at least partially responsible for the problems of competitiveness in the Italian private (and public) sector economy. However, FIAT still has a couple of other major hurdles to overcome; image and penetrating the North American market, the most important in the World. It will require huge investments in advertising and public relations (PR) to overcome the negative image consumers have of FIAT products, thanks in part to bad press. In this regard, the Germans spend a fortune on PR and yes, pay automobile journalists substantial “honoraria” for their support. It seems not to matter that BMW, Mercedes or Audi products have the lowest customer satisfaction ratings of any of the large manufacturers. Finally, any hope of long-term survival for FIAT must include healthy sales in North America. Forget Asia, the Chinese are about to hegemonize the industry, whether the Indians know it or not. So to CEO Marchionne, I say remember the victorious Roman conquerors that would ride into Rome on their chariots with their war booty and slaves in tow. To the cheers of the crowd, the manservant would whisper in the conquering hero’s ear “Gloria brevis est, honor longa est”.
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