The 2015 Fiat 500 has been officially revealed by the car maker and the vehicle is expected to be launched very soon. The Italian automaker unveiled the car on 4th July as this date marks very special in the history of the car maker because back in 1957, Fiat introduced this model on the same day for the very first time. The new Fiat 500 comes with cosmetic and technology changes. The car is the facelift of the 8-year old model with almost 1,800 changes in the design, most of them are hard to spot. So let’s take a quick look on the updates made in the car.
From the outside, this Italian hatch looks more youthful and fresh with changes inside and out. The front façade of the Fiat 500 is redesigned which gives it an all new feel, the front bumper is also restyled, new trapezoidal radiator grille with chrome strips combined with upgraded headlamps which now gets more slanted. The car gets new circular LED daylight running lights and fog lamps.
At the back, the tail lamps are redesigned in triangular shape while the fog lamps and reversing lights are placed at the bottom of the bumper. On the side profile, the car gets the new set of 15 or 16-inch alloy wheels enhancing the outer looks of the vehicle. The car offers the different color pallets such as new Glam Coral and Avantgarde Bordeaux and the combinations of Black and Red and Black and Yellow.
On the inside, the most striking change is the implementation of the advanced Uconnect Infotainment system with 5-inch touchscreen unit and optional digital 7-inch instrument cluster, but this is available only in the top-end variants. The Fiat 500 is also equipped with the Fiat’s Uconnect Live service that allow the user to connect with the smartphones and get access to internet based services and satellite navigation.
The steering wheel is also redesigned with new switches. The car also includes ergonomic seats covered with high-class upholstery. Some tweaks are made to center console while the 12V power socket gets a new location. Furthermore, the company has added more sound-deadening material in the wheel-house and firewall for a more comfortable cabin. The company has introduced 500 with new color scheme, quality interiors and adornments. Apart from these, interiors remain unchanged and are similar to the older version of the car.
Under the hood, the Fiat 500 had the Euro 6-compliant unit that works with the 5 and 6-speed manual transmission gearbox along with the Dualogic robotized gearbox. The facelift will carry the similar engine options as was there in the previous version, they are 1.2-litre and 0.9 litre TwinAir which is capable of producing 85 bhp and 105 bhp of power. The 1.4-liter engine churns out power of 95bhp while the 1.3 litre Multijet II turbo diesel is able to produce 95 bhp of max power output. Fiat is launching the 500 in India in August in the Performance oriented Abarth 595 Competizione form, it remain an undisclosed factor to see whether 500 regular will be launched in India or not.
The company is also planning to strengthen the position in the country by launching the Abarth versions of Avventura and Punto EVO in the next coming months. Apart from the two versions, the firm is also bringing Jeep brand in the country with Cherokee and Wrangler.