They’re so cute!
Daniel Golson/CNET
The New York Auto Show was bleak this yr, with quite a few big automakers not in attendance and quite a lot just about every new debut just a facelift of an current product. But in the corner of the Stellantis stand there had been two shining rays of mild: A pair of new Fiat 500s. The only capture is, the 500 is only offered in Europe and would not appear to the US. What the hell, Fiat?
The new 500 was unveiled in March 2020 appropriate as the pandemic was wreaking havoc on the automobile business (and the entire world), so this was my 1st time seriously finding to see and experience one particular in particular person. And guy is it great. A floor-up redesign with a totally electrical powertrain, the new 500 manages to glance way a lot more modern-day and upscale though however remaining as chic and retro as it need to. Its interior is so significantly nicer than the earlier 500, with an improved infotainment technique, increased-finish components and some intelligent facts.
The a few-additionally-a single model will get a small suicide door.
Daniel Golson/CNET
The two hardtop and cabrio styles were being on show at the show, with the hatch painted in a attractive rose gold and the convertible a person of the Job Pink special editions. But it was the hardtop that definitely grabbed my consideration, for the reason that the new three-additionally-a single design adds a very small suicide door to the passenger facet of the auto. Even with its tiny dimension, the addition of that extra doorway and the absence of a B-pillar helps make it far less difficult to get into the 500’s again seat.
Stellantis won’t definitely have an clarification for why these 500s ended up at the car clearly show. It seems like the cars were currently brought about to the US for CES earlier this year, exactly where Stellantis confirmed off its world-wide electrification initiatives, and the company just determined to bring them to New York to have a little something on the stand. There are facts sheets in the windshields that discuss all about the automobile, and they only have 1 sentence in a extremely little font about how the 500 isn’t offered in the US.
Making the existence of the 500s even a lot more frustrating is the state of the Fiat brand in standard. With the discontinuation of the 500, 500L and 124 Spider, the only Fiat offered in the US is the 500X crossover, which is now 8 many years aged and not excellent at all. (It has a amazing new Yachting trim with a rollback roof, at least.) With the demise of the BMW i3 and Fiat’s major competitor Mini going completely electric, I imagine you will find surely a market place for the new 500 in the US, even if it would need to have to have on a extra top quality value tag. Viewing the cars at the automobile clearly show just produced me even sadder and madder that it is not going to materialize.