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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
I'm afraid you also never forget the first time you drive one. 
This car is fun...if one doesn't know something better. I would prefer a V8 equipped Camaro or Challenger over this dwarf anytime but I can see how this car could appeal to some (younger) people in the US. I always wondered why Americans would buy a Smart.... 
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Carrera GTS Cabriolet PDK, BMW X5M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4
Nov 19, 2011 9:02:28 PM
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Carrageous
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Nov 19, 2011 9:21:00 PM
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RC
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
Carrageous:
Funny! The only problem with the ad is that they should have used a very much shorter model, just to make it fit the car.
I was thinking the same...
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Carrera GTS Cabriolet PDK, BMW X5M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4
Nov 21, 2011 10:10:32 PM
- Leawood911
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
Ferdie:
hugo:
Made in Romania
The car, the girl or the video?I was under the impression that the Fiat 500 is produced in Tychy in Poland, didn´t know that they build it in Romania as well.
Only the girl 
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Nov 22, 2011 11:02:14 AM
- reginos
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, but I'm sure you never noticed the shoes 
Nov 23, 2011 1:59:01 AM
- Enmanuel
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
I am growing sick of this car. They have a heavy advertising campaign with Jennifer Lopez here in America. Her 3 commercials backed by her head numbing new songs are on the air all the time. This weekend, in a clear product placement play, she rolled out in one as part of her American Music Awards stage show.
If FIAT wanted to make their reintorduction here in America, they could not have picked a worse car to start out with. The 500 has zero nostaliga appeal to Americans. Worse, it looks like the runt sized offspring of a VW Beetle and a Mini.
Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
Heist:
This is what we're being bombarded with here in the US. Every channel, all the time, 7 days a week.
Well, it beats that Chevy Volt in the McDonalds drive-thru lane ad which is being repeated ad nauseam. 
May be working better too. Saw quite a few FIAT 500s on a recent visit to FL. Didn't notice one Volt, but that may be down to the fact that it doesn't stand out in a crowd in the same way. 
Land Rover also seems to be spending big bucks in the USA on TV ads for the Evoque at the moment.
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Nov 24, 2011 4:22:32 PM
- Atzporsche
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
Terrible car, terrible territory to try to touch with a terrible marketing campaign.
They should have filmed a time-lapse in Queens before showing it parked with the keys in it. 100% NO would even bother to try to steal it. JLO isn't getting any younger is she? Going this low for a few mill at this point in her life, something serious must be going on financially with her... It's so jLOW to drive a 500 onto a music award show.
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indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
Nov 24, 2011 4:56:07 PM
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ISUK
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
The whole Fiat relaunch has been handled disastrously in the US. At one point it seemed like Sergio Marchionne had the midas touch when he took the reigns at the company but he's now suffered disaster after disaster and his decision to take on Chrysler could well be the undoing of the company IMHO. The products are lacklustre for most of the group brands at best - Fiat, Lancia, Chrysler, whilst a lack of brand understanding is killing alfa Romeo. The safe is nearly empty of cash and new model programmes have been either axed or postponed for too long due to a lack of development funds thanks to the Chrysler deal swallowing up the cash. The new models that are coming out are either under developed or seriously outclassed by existing competition so will struggle to generate the showroom interest needed to sell them without substantial discounting.
Marchionne has also alienated some real talent who had started things moving in a positive direction such as Luca De Meo who successfully ressurected the Abarth brand which has subsequently been tarnished again by using it as a cheap marketing ploy on non-performance cars.
The whole US saga is like watching a slow motion car crash. The woman Marchionne appointed to head up the US operation had insufficient experience and hired her boyfriend's PR company to do the marketing. They also had little experience of the US car sector. Here's the story running over on Italiaspeed about it -
"Sidelined since mid-September, Fiat North America’s embattled CEO Laura Soave has finally been replaced with Chrysler veteran Tim Kuniskis, who is tasked with getting the Fiat relaunch back on track.
In a statement yesterday, Chrysler Group said that it had named Timothy Kuniskis Head of the Fiat Brand for North America. Kuniskis, who joined Chrysler in 1992, most recently served as Director for both the Chrysler Brand and Fiat Brand Product Marketing. The move is effective immediately. In his new role, Kuniskis is responsible for the Fiat Brand in North America which includes leadership for Fiat Brand sales, marketing, dealer network and service.
Always perceived as out of her depth, Soave bites the bullet after a disastrous relaunch for the Fiat brand in the United States and Canada, which has seen sales barely reach half Fiat’s targets before they started a sharp retreat. After peaking at just over three thousand units in July (3,038) and August (3,106), sales slipped down to 2,733 in September. However, even that wasn’t the end of the bad news, as they slumped to just 1,965 units last month. That leaves the 500 on 15,826 sales so far, and a long way short of the target of 50,000 units a year.
The Fiat relaunch Stateside has been enacted on an insufficient budget, and the marketing, such as it is, has been disjointed and incoherent. To compensate for the budgetary limitations, Fiat has tried to use guerrilla marketing techniques, but without an underlying understanding of the principles involved.
The relaunch has culminated in the ridiculed choice of actress and singer Jennifer Lopez as the face of the Fiat 500, although this cannot be wholly blamed on Soave – perpetually star-gazing marketing chief Olivier François was, at least initially, very quick to take credit for her employment. That led to an initial – widely-panned – advert, itself followed by several more that focus on Lopez rather than the 500. The focus on a celebrity to speak for the car has itself been a poor strategy – it has drawn attention away from the positive attributes of the 500, while pitching the car entirely to a female demographic is a risky strategy, especially when the Abarth version has just arrived.
Veteran Detroit auto executive Peter De Lorenzo broke the news that Soave had been sidelined on September 21. He also claimed in his blog that she was being investigated for “impropriety” in her relationship with Impatto, the Detroit-based advertising agency that had managed the 500’s Stateside relaunch but was hastily dropped at the same time. In a statement yesterday, Chrysler Group simply said that: “Laura Soave has left the Company and will pursue other interests.”
“Tim brings broad expertise and leadership in dealer operations and marketing where he has been already working with the team to shape the direction of the Fiat Brand,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Group, who hired Soave apparently on the strength of an semi-impromptu interview although she was severely underqualified for the position. “As North American Head of Fiat, much of his immediate focus will be working with the dealer body where his fresh perspective from the operational side, as well as that on the commercial side, will begin the Fiat Brand’s next chapter.”
Nov 24, 2011 7:27:50 PM
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Carrageous
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Nov 25, 2011 4:36:18 AM
- Enmanuel
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Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
I'm going to go a bit off topic here but since we're in the whole US relaunch fiasco of the Fiat brand, Alfa Romeo just relaunched here in DR and the billboards show the Brera and the 159 and just say "Straight lines are for amateurs" a lot of car enthusiasts like them and they're getting positive response, way to target your audience.
Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
People who buy Alfa Romeo or even "sportier" FIAT models are those who admire Ferrari but of course are a long way off affording one. Subconsciously they view them as having the Italian exotic car soul at cheap prices. Unfortunately for them, they find out that quality is also cheap and the thoroughness of development way below the equivalent German brands. They might offer some highlights but also they have glaring weaknesses in crucial areas.
In the 70s and 80s before the full European economic integration, 90% of cars sold in Italy came from the FIAT Group.Check how many BMW and Audi who see in Italy and you can realize why the FIAT brands are doomed.
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"Form follows function"
Re: Us Abarth 500 ad
reginos:
People who buy Alfa Romeo or even "sportier" FIAT models are those who admire Ferrari but of course are a long way off affording one. Subconsciously they view them as having the Italian exotic car soul at cheap prices. Unfortunately for them, they find out that quality is also cheap and the thoroughness of development way below the equivalent German brands. They might offer some highlights but also they have glaring weaknesses in crucial areas.
In the 70s and 80s before the full European economic integration, 90% of cars sold in Italy came from the FIAT Group.Check how many BMW and Audi who see in Italy and you can realize why the FIAT brands are doomed.
I would take a Giulietta 1.4 MA over a new BMW 118i anyday! I drove both and even though the german car has better fit and finish, the italian has it licked for dynamic excellence. Mind you that the BMW I drove didn't have the sport suspension but it felt like just another car on the road. The Giulietta on the other hand had the turn in and body control of a GTi!
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FERRARI RULES!!!
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