Fiat 500 TwinAir

The Fiat 500 has just won the City Car honours in the 2012 BusinessCar Awards, for the fourth consecutive year. This award is voted for by the readers of BusinessCar magazine and is decided entirely by the business car industry, carrying with it the approval of the fleet market. The vote was also for the entire 500 range rather than just a specific model showing how extensive the Fiat 500 range is.

“Fiat’s 500 has again proved to be a business car market favourite, and Fiat’s advancement with its TwinAir technology has enhanced the excellent city car’s appeal to the sector,” commented Paul Barker, editor, BusinessCar. “The readers of BusinessCar are obviously fans of the 500’s combination of fun and frugality, having picked it as their favourite city car for the fourth year in a row.”

The Fiat 500 is available with a choice of low CO2 emissions Euro 5 engines, the 85bhp 0.9-litre TwinAir, 69 bhp 1.2-litre and 100bhp 1.4-litre petrol, and the 95 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel. Fiat 500 contract hire is on the site on all models.

Fiat eco:Drive Fleet

The highly successful Fiat eco:Drive system has now been launched to the fleet market after more than 34,000 private motorists have enjoyed the benefits, with over 4 million journeys now being logged and analysed on the dedicated website.

The Fiat eco:Drive Fleet system analyses mileage and fuel consumption from your company car driver journeys and then provides suggestions on how to improve efficiencies in the future. The data can be sorted in various ways i.e. by individual driver or batches of drivers.

eco:Drive Fleet is free to download from www.fiat.com/ecodrive and is available on all fleet models including 500, 500C, Punto Evo, Bravo, Qubo and new Doblo. The application can also be used on Fiat Professional commercial vehicles (equipped with Blue&Me) such as Grande Punto Van, Fiorino and Doblo Cargo.

Abarth 500 Assetto Corse

Ian Gibson, head of Abarth UK, and race driver Adam Jones formally launched the UK debut of the Trofeo 500 race series to a large gathering of teams owner, dealers, drivers and sponsors. Patrick Kielty the comedian and supermodel, Jodie Kidd, were also among the guests at Silverstone racecourse.

The 1368cc 16-valve turbocharged engine in the Assetto Corse race cars develop 190bhp at 6,500rpm and offer a sparkling performance with their smart body kit and 17-inch sports wheels.

Land Rover Defender Hard Top

What Car? readers have voted the iconic Land Rover Defender as the top car in the What Car? Reader Awards 2009. Over 20,000 readers voted the Defender above 387 other models covering 52 brands.

The Fiat 500 was top of the supermini category, while the Jaguar XJ topped the Executive and Luxury Cars category. The Audi A5 was top coupe and best Open-Top-Car was the Mazda MX5.

The Skoda Octavia picked up the small family car category and Ford also picked up two awards, one for the Monedo (best estate car) and one for the C-Max (top MPV). The results are below and all models will be available for quoting if you are looking at leasing your next car.

Fiat London

Fiat’s London flagship dealer, Fiat Marylebone, has again been the venue for an international art exhibition. Around 100 guests, including art experts, celebrities and Fiat customers attended the event, where Italian artist, Franco Brescianini displayed his collection.

Tony Dittli, Managing Director of Fiat Marlebone commented “I am delighted that once again Fiat Marylebone was asked to host an art exhibition. It lends itself perfectly to these occasions and was ideal to showcase Franco Brescianini’s fine work”. The display, called Profili Femminili, was laid out across the flagship’s lower floor where normally Fiat’s range of cars (Punto, Panda, 500, Qubo, Bravo etc) are displayed.

Fiat wins award

The popular Fiat 500 has picked up another award at the 2009 GreenFleet Awards with the top prize in the City Car of the Year category. Fiat was also praised for their 500 Start&Stop technology, eco:Drive system and the optional Dualogic gearbox. 

The judges said,” The latest version of the iconic 500 now comes with Start&Stop, which further reduces its CO2 emissions down to 110g/km. A true four seater, the 500 gives fantastic value to the consumer as well as being one of the greenest cars in its class”.

The Fiat 500 comes with a choice of three Euro 5 engines and three trim levels, Pop, Sport and Lounge.

Abarth 500 R3T

Abarth has revealed their stunning new Abarth 500 R3T rally car which is powered by a 1,368cc engine and is fitted with a Garrett GT 1446 fixed geometry turbocharger, delivering 180bhp at 5,500 RPM. It comes with a six speed sequential gearbox, self-locking blade differential and twin disc clutch and half shafts.

Four Brembo disc brakes (ventilated at the front and solid at the rear) provide the stopping power and the car also features a hydraulic handbrake. Ivan Gibson, manager, Abarth brand UK said,”We have already seen how good the Abarth 500 race is and I am looking forward to watching this new rally car perform”.

The Abarth 500 is based on the Fiat 500 which is an extremely popular car so if you fancy something a bit more practical, then Fiat 500 car leasing is available off the site on all other standard models.

Barbie gets a pink Fiat 500 for her birthday

Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday on Monday (9th March) and was given a one off unique bright pink Fiat 500. The car was built in partnership between Fiats’s style centre (Centro Stile) and toy maker Mattel.

The car was driven through the streets of Milan and certainly turned a few heads with its gleaming paintwork resembling nail varnish.  Bright crystals sparkling on interior bezels, hubcaps, window mouldings and the roof mounted aerial, all added to the glitz of the car. The floor mats have been enhanced with silk yarn and there are even lip glosses in various brilliant colours, stored in the glove department.

Roberto Giolito, Fiat Style Director and creator of the Fiat 500 said  ” Barbie is a looker, smart enough to listen to everyone, a universal ambassador opting for a car that never divides, but frees everyone from having to declare their social status”.

The question is will it go into production?  Watch this space!

Fiat has been confirmed for the second year running as having the lowest average CO2 emissions from vehicles sold in 2008 @133.7 g/km.

Lorenzo Sistino, managing director of Fiat Automobiles said ” The result of this important analysis rewards Fiat’s ongoing quest for innovative solutions for the reduction of emissions and levels of Co2″

Coupled with an innovative approach to new technology like eco:Drive and the new Start&Stop system, Fiat has also been downsizing diesel and petrol engines for some time, as can be shown with the new 1.4 T-Jet and 1.6 MultiJet families. Using a state of the art turbo compressor with smaller engines means that Fiat can offer performance that is comparable, or even better, than larger engines plus offer lower emissions and fuel consumption.

Fiat 500

The newly crowned dance champion from the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing show has just taken delivery of a new Fiat 500.

Tom already owns a Fiat 500 and said “I have always loved Fiat 500′s and bought the old one two years ago for my wife Claire. I am really pleased with this new car and am looking forward to driving home to Derbyshire in it for Christmas”.

The model Tom ordered was a Fiat 500 1.4 16V Lounge in Funk White. If you are interested in Fiat 500 car leasing offers or deals then have a look at www.comparecontracthire.com . Here you can compare live quotes on line from up to 12 car leasing companies.

The Fiat 500 is available with a choice of three Euro 5- ready ultra low emission engines: the 60 bhp 1.2 litre and 100 bhp 1.4 litre or the 75 bhp 1.3 litre Multijet turbo diesel. The three different trim levels available are Pop, Sport or Lounge.

Whether business or personal contract hire, the differential in prices, for the same model, can be quite significant between each car leasing company. For example the least expensive Fiat 500 1.2 Pop 3 Door is showing on the site at £152.73 (including VAT) on personal contract hire from Hitachi Capital.

The contract hire terms are non maintained contract hire, three years, payment terms are 3 rentals deposit followed by 35 subsequent rentals at 10,000 miles per annum.

The next closest rental for this car is £172.50 including VAT showing a saving of £19.77 per month or £751.26 over the contract life by using the site.