The only other car which saw such rush and frezied interest was the BMW MINI when its was launched in 2001. The FIAT 500 has been a huge hit ever since it has been on sale. The car’s initial allocation of 4500 units has been lapped up by UK in just about 2 weeks! Dealers are already struggling to replenish stock of this already popular Modern-Retro car.

     

FIAT has hit a jackpot with the 500, with car already having a huge waiting list in most markets, a position any maker would love to see itself in. Infact such is the demand that certain buyers are taking advantage and seeing the investment oppurtunity presented by shortage of cars. The cars are on sale on many auction sites like ebay, some at ridiculouly high prices becuase of the long waiting list and impatience of people with deep pockets.

 

FIAT South Africa has also sent in a notice asking buyers to order the car as soon as possible, failing so might shift the delivery date, post july. The phenomenal success of the 500 comes at a time when FIAT group has been on a huge upswing. The group has recorded its largest ever trading profit 3.2 Billion Euros on a turnover of 59 Billion euro’s - in its 2007 results.

The car will also be launched in India via the CBU route, with an asking price of more than 12 lakhs ex-showroom! It will hardly do any numbers since its very small for the price and FIAT’s brand at its lowest level ever but then its not numbers which FIAT is after. The exclusivity and the worldwide success of the car might pull in buyers with deep pockets.