Fiat TwinAir engine

Fiat recently moved upwards in the J.D Power & Associates customer satisfaction survey to an overall position of 22nd, which is the highest position the brand has ranked since the survey started in 1994.

The popularity of the Fiat 500 and its TwinAir engine, plus improvements in quality, reliability and customer service have all helped move Fiat from it’s last year position of 26th.  In the City Car category, the Fiat 500 finished in 2nd place and the Fiat panda came in at 4th. Last month, Fiat’s TwinAir engine was also voted International Engine of the Year and we have  Fiat contract hire prices on the full Fiat car range on the site now.

Fiat 500

The 2011 BusinessCar Awards “City Car of the Year” award has gone to the Fiat 500 for the third year running. The car’s great looks, coupled with excellent running costs and residual values, made a real impression on the judges. Paul Barker, editor of BusinessCar said,”Fiat’s 500 has once more proved that business cars can make sense to both the head and the heart. The 500 has great residual values and running costs combined with the ability to put smiles on faces, making it the perfect city car for the corporate market, something BusinessCar readers obviously echo in voting the 500 City Car of the Year”.

The Fiat 500 is available with a wide choice of Euro 5 compliant engines, 85bhp 0.9 TwinAir,69 bhp 1.2-litre and 100 bhp 1.4-litre petrol, and 95 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel. It is also available in three trim levels, Pop, Lounge and Sport and Fiat contract hire leasing on all models is available off the site now.

Fiat 500

Fiat Group Automobiles has continued its tradition of supporting sporting partners by announcing their newest partnership with the All England Netball Association. They have already tied themselves in with British Cycling and Aston Villa FC and this new deal sees Fiat becoming the title sponsor for the Fiat Netball Superleague, which is the highest-level league in the UK. In addition Fiat is now the title sponsor of the Fiat International Netball Series which starts on the 15th January.

Paolo Lo Monaco, finance and business development director for Fiat Group Automobiles UK and Ireland, said,”Netball is a female-dominant sport which crosses a wide variety of age groups, so we think much of the Fiat range will fit perfectly with the sport’s fans, such as the Fiat 500 and Panda. And the larger Fiat Qubo and Doblo models are excellent choices for carrying teams of netball players to matches”.

Fiat 500

Fiat has just announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show that it is returning to the North American market with the award-winning Fiat 500 car range. The car will be produced in Mexico and the four-seater city car will be available in Pop, Sport and Lounge trim.

Fiat 500

However it comes with only one engine type in the US, the 1.4 100hp MultiAir, plus it is available in 14 exterior colours, 14 colour combinations and materials for the seats, two interiors (black and ivory) and a comprehensive accessory and exclusive option list supplied by Mopar.

Laura Soave, manager of the Fiat brand in North America, said,”The Fiat 500 has always been the right car at the right time. With the new Fiat 500, a truly exclusive car in one of the most rapidly growing segments in North America is being introduced. It offers prestigious Italian design, value and efficiency, all smartly calibrated for our market”. In the UK, Fiat offers a variety of engine options and accessories and Fiat business car lease is on the site now.

Alfa MiTo

The readers of What Car? have voted the sporty Alfa MiTo as Best Supermini with an average rating of 4.6 out of five. The Alfa MiTo not only topped the Best Supermini category but also came third overall in the Best Car segment, out of 167 competitors. In addition in the supermini class, the Fiat Group came second and third for the Fiat 500 and Panda respectively.

The Alfa MiTo was launched in the UK in 2009 and defined a new era for cars in the B segment class with its array of new technologies including its dynamic control system (or DNA as Alfa Romeo calls it), five star Euro NCAP rating,  its award winning MultiAir engine technology plus head turning looks as well.

All of these key attributes were recognised by the readers of What Car? and if you are interested in Alfa Romeo MiTo business car leasing then all models are on the site now, with either maintained or non-maintained prices, on a variety of terms.

More Fiat offers available

Fuel costs are rising and if all you need for your business is a car to nip round town, that’s economical and also great to look at, then the Fiat 500 fits the bill. We have a Fiat 500 1.2 Pop 3-door Start Stop on Fiat business car leasing on the site at the moment from only £137.51+VAT per month. This funky supermini city car, returns 58.9 combined mpg and only emits 113 g/km making it an attractive option all round.

The Fiat business car leasing deal is based on the following;

- Business car leasing on a non-maintained contract over a four year term at 10,000 miles per annum.

- 3 months rental in advance followed by forty-seven subsequent rentals (50 equal payments in total)

- “With maintenance”, metallic paint and other vehicle options can be added at an extra cost.

- The image shown may not represent the exact model.

- Pricing is subject to change at any time and must be verified directly with each vehicle leasing supplier

- Other mileages available on request.

- Three year offer starts from £150.14+VAT

Fiat 500 city car

Fiat has tied up a deal with Connect, one of the UK’s leading car-share companies that is owned by Hertz. The car-by-the-hour business has agreed a deal to supply the Fiat 500 city car and the sporty Alfa MiTo to customers who want the occasional use of car. The cars in the Connect scheme will be initially rolled out in London with a wider use later this year.

Alfa MiTo

Connect has agreed to take 170 cars to start with and the sub-120g/km CO2 figures for these models will not only offer great fuel efficiency but they are easy and fun to drive as well. All you need to do is swipe your Connect swipe card and you can gain access to the cars for as little as an hour at a time. If you fancy leasing either models however, Fiat car leasing prices are on the site now.

Fiat fleet deal with Aston Villa

Fiat has announced its new fleet deal with the Premier League club, Aston Villa Football Club, after already sponsoring the England football team and Wembley Stadium earlier this year. The four year agreement will include both Fiat cars and Fiat Professional commercial vehicles.

The award winning Fiat 500 city car, Fiat Punto Evo, new Fiat Doblo and the rugged Fiat Ducato are just some of the vehicles being taken by Aston Villa.

Andrew Humberstone, Managing Director FGA UK and Ireland said,”This is another fantastic opportunity for both Fiat and Aston Villa. We are enjoying considerable success with current sports tie-ins and I am sure this latest deal with Aston Villa will bring us similar results”.

Bosch Start/Stop technology

Bosch has announced that Start/Stop technology, which is usually only available on manual cars, is now available for automatic vehicles. They have sold over 1.5 million Start/Stop systems since 2007 and the technology has now been adapted and is already available in cars like the Volkswagen Passat, the Porsche Panamera (with dual clutch transmission), the Fiat 500 (in combination with automated manual transmission) and in the Audi A8 with a torque converter clutch.

In vehicles with automatic transmission the start/stop function is really easy to use. When the driver steps on the brake pedal (and as soon as the car stops), the engine stops automatically and then starts again when the brake pedal is released. This sounds really simple but for the Bosch engineers it was a real challenge to make the start process faster and more dynamic.

Fiat 500 city car

Fiat has launched a new project to celebrate the production of 500,000 Fiat 500 city cars, just 31 months since the car launched. The showcase car is called Fiat 500 Thousandth and is set to be covered by 1,500 photos displaying the faces of Fiat 500 customers, celebrities and fans.

Bookings for a place on the car will become available next week, after the Bank Holiday and if you want to get your face on the car, then log on to www.fiat500.com . You can then use the special application to book a space and load your photograph. Seventy percent of the spaces are being reserved for Fiat 500 drivers.

The Fiat 500 Thousandth will then be ready three weeks thereafter and is set to feature at Fiat forthcoming events and international motor shows. If you are thinking of leasing a Fiat 500 then of course Fiat 500 contract hire prices are available off the site now.