Car Throttle

No doubt most anticpated vehicle to come out of the Chrysler-Fiat partnership would have to be the Fiat 500.

The retro minicar has made a big splash in international markets, with it helping to power Fiat’s ascendancy. On our shores, many think it could prove to be serious competition for BMW’s highly successful MINI. What is more, it looks like it will become an even better car for the transition across the Atlantic.

The car is set to be built in Mexico on Fiat’s new A-platform, which will also underpin the next-generation 2011 Fiat Panda and Lancia Ypsilon.

The new platform will offer improved crash protection (meeting the strict U.S. standards), along with more refinement and reductions in NVH (noise, vibration and harshness).

North American is the only lucky market to get the improvements. Bonus for being patient waiting? Nah – the logistics don’t make sense because European plants aren’t designed to build the car on a different platform. It would be a lot of cost without any benefit to sales – switching over plants without a whole redesign is far too costly. You can bet Europe will be getting the platform for the car’a next-generation though.

Bizarrely, Fiat is reportedly still deciding what the car’s name will be for the U.S will be! Isn’t 500 a no-brainer? Guess not, because Fiat is reportedly considering the Italian name for 500, Cinquecento, instead.

According to Edmunds’ Inside Line, who authored the report, the company believes there is some value for that name in the U.S marketplace. We’d have to disagree with that – it would be very surprising if it came to the U.S as anything but 500.