Thursday, January 28, 2010

Confirmed: 170 horespower Fiat 500 for the U.S. Market

Fiat 500 Abarth - Subcompact Culture
Chrysler Communications Manager, Scott Brown, confirmed yesterday that a 170 horsepower Fiat 500 will show up on the U.S. market. I spoke with Brown while attending a media preview of the 2010 Portland Auto Show. He specifically stated the turbocharged 170 hp engine would not be part of the initial Fiat 500 launch, but would indeed follow. The initial launch engine will make 100 hp.

The Fiat 500 should arrive in late 2010 or early 2011.

4 comments:

gokartride said...

So I hear The Stig drives one of these!

Anonymous said...

Thats really cool. But when? 2011 or 2012? They must have some idea. I'm not sure what it would be like to drive, but I have a good idea, and I'd like to find out.

Andy Lilienthal said...

Brown said late 2010, early 2011 for the 500 launch; not sure when the turbo will hit.

Fiat500USA said...

Hi, thanks for picking up my original post.

Though, in the interest of clarification, I broke that story on the Fiat 500 Abarth and not the regular 500.

As for when the Fiat 500 Abarth will arrive, Chrysler says about a year after the normal 500. The last I've heard it's the fourth quarter 2011.

Marchionne, and other sources seem to be corroborating this, says the normal Fiat 500 will be available in Dec 2010.

You can read all about the Fiat 500 here at Fiat500USA.

Best regards, Chris