The Fiat 500 is an iconic vehicle and the current generation was launched seven years ago. Now Fiat is soon going to give the vehicle a major update and some renderings claimed to be accurate have come out. According to the artist impressions, the exterior styling still remains retro but the automaker has made considerable amount of changes to not just pass this off as a facelift. It is easy to make out that Fiat has put in some good efforts to make the exteriors stand out even more.
The new headlights look very good and a step ahead from the previous ones. The side body strips also add a touch of appeal to the side profile which would otherwise look bland. The major and most significant change that we see in the 2016 Fiat 500 lies in the interiors. Everything from the dashboard, centre console, multimedia system, steering wheel, buttons, etc. is brand new (although lifted off from other Fiat cars, namely the 500L).
Each and every function can be accessed by the touch screen and the only four buttons that you can see in the pictures are meant for the automatic manual transmission (AMT, after all Fiat owns Magneti Marelli which holds patents for AMT technology). There is no real instrument cluster too. All the information will be displayed on the cool TFT screen behind the steering wheel. The dashboard will be available in many colours to match the exteriors.
There won’t be any significant changes to the Fiat 500’s mechanicals. The new 500 will be powered by the same 1.3-litre Multijet 2 diesel engine as well as the new 900cc TwinAir petrol engine that produces a maximum power of 105 BHP. The Fiat 500 was already available in India where it catered to a very niche segment and did not find many takers. The 500 competes with the MINI Cooper and Volkswagen Beetle. Fiat also has other models in the 500 lineup such as – 500L, 500C, 500X and 500 MPW. The Abarth 500 which is a sportier version of the Fiat 500 will be launched in India later this year. Globally, the four-door Fiat 500 will replace the Grande Punto.
Source – AutoExpress
