Automakers are always looking for ways to attract younger buyers to their brand. But Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is hoping that the introduction of a new two-seat roadster will put a spark into the sales of the Fiat brand in the U.S.
Fiat brand sales were down 19% in May, compared with the same month a year ago. Sales of the Fiat 500, which has been hurt by consumers’ turn towards trucks and utility vehicles, dropped by 49% and sales of the 500L were off by 69%. But sales of the 500X utility vehicle were up in May compared with the same month a year ago, in its first month of year-over-year comparisons.
Deliveries of the all-new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider are expected to begin arriving this month. The 124 Spider revives the storied nameplate, bringing its classic Italian styling and performance to a new generation of vehicles and buyers.
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Bob Broderdorf, the director of the Fiat brand in North America, noted that since the re-introduction brand in the United States some give years ago, it has succeeded in selling more than 250,000 vehicles. Moreover, the brand has been a substantial success demographically, he noted.
Some 40% of the buyers are from youthful millennial generation or to slightly older members of Generation X. In addition, one third of Fiat’s sales have been in California and nearly 90% of the buyers have come from other brands and thus represent conquest sales for FCA, Broderdorf said.
With the introduction of 2017 Fiat Spider, FCA is also hoping to attract a more affluent and somewhat older buyer, Broderdorf told reporters.
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The new 124 pays homage to the original 124 Spider nearly 50 years after its introduction, the 2017 Fiat 124 Spider delivers the ultimate Italian roadster experience with driving excitement, technology and safety combined with iconic Italian design, according to Broderdorf.
The original Spider was the most popular car Fiat ever sold in the U.S., he said. More than 170,000 were sold in the U.S. between 1968 and 1983 and an estimated 8,000 are still registered to motorists in the U.S.
Broderdorf said the new Spider is certain to attract new customers to the Fiat brand and to FCA.
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But the new 124 is hardly a retro-car. It is built on a new rear-wheel-drive chassis developed by Mazda and is built in a Mazda plant in Hiroshima, Japan. But the 1.4-liter turbocharged new Spider is made it Italy and all the vehicle’s sheet metal was done by Fiat designers in Turin, Italy, while the 124 Spider’s suspension was tuned to Fiat’s specifications.
There’s too much Miata DNA in this vehicle. It almost looks like a mashed up (literally) between a Miata and the late Opel/Saturn convertible (the Pontiac version was much more differentiated).