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ITALY - It was the small car that could park in the tightest of spots on the piazza, as Italian as prosciutto and espresso. On its 50th birthday, the Cinquecento is back, and Fiat wants it to become the iPod of cars.
Fiat is launching a new version of the three-door Cinquecento - meaning '500' in Italian - at a huge, televised ceremony in its hometown of Turin on Wednesday, with the car making its comeback after being out of production for 32 years.
Slightly bigger than the original, it is part of the aim of Fiat's chief executive to emulate Apple by making its cars as stylish as the US company's computers and electronic gadgets, including the iPod portable music player.
"I want Fiat to become the Apple of cars,' Sergio Marchionne told La Stampa daily in an interview on Wednesday.
"And the Cinquecento will be our iPod,' he added, referring to the hugely successful music player.
Like the Mini or the Volkswagen Beetle, the Cinquecento is an icon.
For Italians, it epitomises the economic boom that their country enjoyed after the Second World War.
Cheap and efficient, it gradually replaced the scooter for millions of people whose living standards improved dramatically during the 1950s and 1960s.
After 18 years on the road, the Cinquecento went out of production in 1975.
But it still putters along the streets of European cities and elsewhere, thanks to its aficionados who have kept its spirit alive.
Members of Cinquecento clubs from across Europe and beyond descended in their hundreds on Turin on Wednesday to take part in the festivities ahead of the evening launch. Many were optimistic about its prospects despite the variety of choice on the road, whether it be a Smart by DaimlerChrysler or Renault's new Twingo.
"The new one will sell really well," said James Wheeler, who travelled from Newbury, England with his blue 1959 model."I like cars that have passion,' he said. "(And the new one) will definitely have passion."
Marchionne said he was working to make Fiat a nimble automaker after spending years restructuring it.
Part of that nimbleness was exemplified in the time it took to bring the new model to market: 18 months.
"It's twice the time for a child to be born but half of what our competitors need (to make their cars)," he said.
Faithful to the spirit of the original, the new Cinquecento will sell as a mass-market - rather than a premium - car.Italian newspapers say it will be priced at about 10,000 euro ($NZ18,000).
Fiat said last week that orders for the car had already exceeded half of the 50,000 it had planned to produce for 2007.
Such was the demand that it might raise its annual production target to 140,000 units from 120,000, it said.
Analysts expect the new model to help Fiat's image rather than its bottom line, saying the automaker had to succeed in expanding its Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands to make a difference for its future.
- REUTERS
