2015-Fiat-500L_651

The Fiat brand has long been associated with Italy but since year 2014 the acclaimed and popular car brand has some American blood in its veins. Of course we are talking about the Fiat and Chrysler merger earlier this year when the deal gave Fiat access to the North American market while providing Chrysler with knowledge how to build small and fuel-efficient cars. Thanks to the deal now Fiat introduces new Fiat 500 models in North America.

The Fiat 500 is one of the many legendary cars of Fiat. Introduced in 1957 the first model is often called "the first city car". Cheap and easy to maintain, the Fiat 500 was in production until 1975 and more than 3 million Fiat 500 cars were sold back in the day. In 2007, exactly 50 years after the launch of the first Fiat 500, the popular car maker introduced an improved and modernized version of the Fiat 500 that is still in production in Europe and Mexico.

2015-Fiat-Abarth_651

Now customers in the United States will be able to drive the new high-performance 2015 Fiat 500 Abarth and Abarth Cabrio as well as take advantage of the all-electric Fiat 500e and the Fiat 500L, which is an all-new five-passenger model that expands the Fiat brand into the growing B-segment.

Let's take a look at the specs of the new cars. The 2015 Fiat Abarth comes with two transmissions – one 5-speed manual and one 6-speed automatic and a 1.4-liter SOHC 16-valve turbocharged multiair inline four-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers 119 kW (162 HP) of power at 5,500 rpm and 170 lb-ft (230 Nm) of torque at 2,500-4,000 rpm (with 5-speed manual transmission). The same engine delivers 117 kW (159 HP) of power at 5,500 rpm and 183 lb-ft (248 Nm) of torque at 2,400-4,000 rpm with the six-speed automatic transmission. The estimated fuel economy is 28/34/31 US mpg (8.4/6.9/7.6 liters per 100 km) (city/highway/combined) with five-speed manual and 24/32/27 US mpg (9.8/7.4/8.7 liters per 100 km) (city/highway/combined) with six-speed manual. The tech specs of the Fiat Abarth Cabrio are the same except that the car does not offer a six-speed automatic transmission and you will have to do with the 5-speed one only.

We do not have information on the 2015 Fiat 500L (if there's any at all) so we will describe the 2014 Fiat 500L specs – the car is equipped with a 1.4-liter SOHC 16-valve turbocharged multiair inline four-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers 119 kW (162 HP) of power at 5,500 rpm and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) of torque at 2,500-4,000 rpm. The car reaches 25/33/28 US mpg (9.4/7.1/8.4 liters per 100 km) (city/highway/combined) fuel economy with the offered six-speed manual transmission and 24/33/27 US mpg (9.8/7.1/8.7 liters per 100 km) (city/highway/combined) of fuel economy with the Euro Twin Clutch six-speed transmission. There's no information on the Fiat 500e vehicle.

There's no word on the pricing or the availability dates of the new models as of now.

Source: Fiat