Europe Embraces Fiat 500 For Its Best Sales Year Ever!

While the FIAT brand hasn’t taken off like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had hoped in the United States and Canada, the brand’s halo vehicle the Fiat 500 has set a sales record in Europe. Of course the Fiat 500 is more designed to fit the tight city areas throughout Europe compared to the open highways of the North America, but the city car has proven itself over the past decade to be a key piece of FCA’s success in certain European countries.

As constant symbol of Italian style and manufacturing worldwide, the timeless Fiat 500 continues to impress, by recording, in its eleventh year, its best-ever annual figures with almost 194,000 units registered in Europe in 2018 (total for Fiat 500 and Abarth 500). This is yet another record for the best-selling car in its segment, where it has also achieved its second best ever share of about 15%.

“This sales record reminds us that the 500 is a real timeless automotive icon, and not just for the Fiat brand,” declares Luca Napolitano, Head of EMEA FIAT and Abarth brand.  “I am very proud of this result, which sees the 500 the best-seller in 11 European countries and in the top three in another four. Over its 11-year lifetime, the 500 has never gone out of fashion, and has been successful everywhere as a symbol of Italian and design and manufacturing. While remaining true to itself, it has been re-interpreted over time, linking its name to iconic brands – from fashion to luxury yachts and from technology to the heritage sector – to create more than 30 special series and explore unusual territories for a city car. Like its illustrious predecessor, the new 500 has “brightened up” the daily lives and streets of the whole world, becoming a cool solution to international urban mobility needs.

Today it is the most global FIAT car, sold in more than 100 countries worldwide and with 80% of volumes generated outside Italy. Overall, from 2007 to the present, more than 2,110,000 Fiat 500 cars have been built, rising to more than 6 million when added to those of the model’s predecessor, produced from 1957 to 1977, making it one of the best-selling Fiat models of all time”.