Has The Fiat 500 Already Become A Sales Flop?

No I don't think it has been a failure.When Mini began selling cars in the US how many A class car models were being sold in the US market? The answer little or none.Now you have Mazda 2,Ford Fiesta,Mini,Smart, Toyota IQ etc. Mini pretty much had the market to itself.Also Mini offered the Cooper S almost right away when they entered the market. They may have had 90 dealerships Vs 125 for Fiat but they did not have the slow roll out of it's dealerships that Fiat has had. Is Mini selling the same # of cars now that it did when it rolled out? Maybe but they have a lot more models now to support it. Up to this point Fiat has had but 2 models the coupe and convertable.There has been no performance model in the line up. That is about to change.The market is not the same when Mini started. Fiat needs more models and some slighty larger ones at that. A five door is a must, a CUV is going to be a must. It can all be marketed as the 500 but it still must diversify.Fiat needs to market to more then just women.Finally it needs a bit more power. I suggested adding direct injection to multiair. It should further help fuel economy and give the 500 about 15 extra horspower.20,000(end of yr) for a slow roll out of product and lots of competition,and no performance model is not a failure by any stretch of the imagination.

FYI, technically she didn't star in an ad for Fiat. The ad was a portion of her video for the song. Fiat just used part of her video.

Did Fiat pay her to drive that car?: Yes. Is it an ad? Yep. Did she make a commercial for a Fiat...yes.

This is pure semantics anyway. I don't know how much the ads with J-Lo are helping bring awareness regarding the Fiat 500. The point I was trying to make is that there is a lot of competition in the A class market now that there was not when Mini came on the scene in 2002.Further Mini has a full line up compared to the current 2 and soon to be 3 models for the 500. There is nothing wrong with the 500 as a competator to Mini in the rest. However I think their marketing has to improve and the 500 model range needs to be expanded not only in variants of the same vehicle but also a larger vehicle with 5 doors and the possibility of AWD. I say this because the 500 offers a character that currently none of the Japanese or Koreans offer. That is character. Mini also offers character. Mini right now is in a better position because of it's fuller model range. Assuming Fiat sells 2500 in Novemeber and December your looking at 20,000 for not being available a full yr.That is not a failure in sales. You have to assume that the Abarth will only add to the sales figures for 2012.Fiat also needs to seriously commit Alfa to this market and not allow any further delays regardless what is happening in Europe.

Up here in the Great White North, the 500 has been a massive hit. Although it's generally agreed upon that the Mini Cooper is a better choice, the Fiat is the one selling at a ridiculous pace - it's the novelty, I guess.

Same in NYC. There's one in every corner. Some in horrid colors but a lot of them indeed.

The 500 certainly is out selling Smart. It just needs a little better marketing and more model diversification. One last thing it needs. An extra 15 HP.