The Fiat 500 or Fiat Nuova 500 is a city car built by Italian automaker Fiat since 2007. The car is currently produced in Tychy, Poland by Fiat Auto Poland S.A. and in Toluca, Mexico, by Chrysler Group LLC. The four-seater, three-door hatchback 500 is almost identical to the retro concept car Trepiùno presented in 2004. Designer Roberto Giolito's current Fiat 500 is a direct crib from Dante Giacosa's 1957 original rear-engined Fiat 500 or "Cinquecento Nuova".
The car was announced on May 5, 2006, and the first images were presented on March 20, 2007. The car was launched officially on July 4, 2007, with 250,000 people in attendance. This was the largest launch party held in the last ten years, a testament to the Cinquecento Nuova's huge popularity. The car was displayed in the squares of 30 cities in Italy for the launch.
The 500 is available with four different trim levels: Naked (this version not available in the United Kingdom, opting for this trim level means that the car does not have the seven airbags meaning that the passenger safety rating drops), Pop, Lounge, and Sport. Customers can also choose between 15 interior trims, nine wheel options, 19 decals, and 12 body colours. There are over 500,000 different personalized combinations of the 500 that can be made by adding all kinds of accessories, decals, interior and exterior colours, and trims. The car is also available with the Blue&Me navigation system. The American Sport version has the 1.4 litre Multiair engine, which is manufactured in Michigan.
The design of the 2007 Fiat 500 is based on the Fiat Trepiuno concept introduced at the 74th Geneva Motorshow in 2004. The Trepiuno was designed by Fiat Stile Centre. The designer who penned the Trepiùno concept was Roberto Giolito. This car featured a distinctive retro-look resembling the original Fiat 500, which proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe.
The name "Trepiuno" is a contraction of "tre più uno", meaning "three plus one" in Italian; the car received this name because it was one step above a 2+2, as it was designed so that by deflating part of the dashboard around the front passenger's legs, and using high-tech thin-layered materials which take up less room than conventional upholstery, the front passenger seat could be slid forward far enough to accommodate another full-sized adult seat behind it; the fourth passenger, behind the driver, would occupy the smaller seat.
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