Fiat plans retro-style Cinquecento cars

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

• Discount UK Shopping

July 15 : Fiat SpA, Italy’s biggest manufacturer, plans to debut a Cinquecento city car based on the popular 1960s version, betting that a retro-style auto can help revitalize the brand.

"Fiat has to return to its roots, but interpret them for the world of today," said Lapo Elkann, Fiat’s head of brand promotion and grandson of Fiat’s former chairman, the late Gianni Agnelli, at a press briefing on Thursday in Milan.

"The Cinquecento is the model that I love the most." The American-born Mr Elkann, 27, is opening cafes and licensing sweatshirts, sneakers and wine under the Fiat name to capture the attention of young consumers today in hopes of selling them Fiat cars tomorrow.

The strategy is part of chief executive Sergio Marchionne’s plan to turn around the carmaker, which has lost $10 billion in four years. "We have to move closer to our consumer and those people who will be our customers of tomorrow," said Mr Elkann, who is marketing the 109-year-old Fiat as a lifestyle brand through initiatives that include partnerships with names including Bose stereo speakers and Italy’s flagship airline Alitalia SpA.

"We have to find the way to get them to listen to us." The Cinquecento, named for its 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, was first introduced in 1957 as a compact family car. The car, whose name means 500 in Italian, became a standard vehicle on Italian roads and along with Piaggio SpA’s Vespa scooter, a symbol of the recovery of postwar Italy until it was discontinued in 1977.

The first Cinquecento was a two-seater, with a four-seater being introduced later. A beach-buggy model known as the Jolly was owned by celebrities including actors Yul Brynner and John Wayne and former US president Lyndon Johnson.

The Cinquecento was also featured in US television show "Fantasy Island" in the late 1970s. The new version may be introduced in 2007, Turin, Italy- based Fiat said, adding a final decision to build the vehicle hasn’t been made. The company used the Cinquecento name for several models in the mid-1990s that were different styles from the original. The last of those models was made in 1998, the company said.