[car fanatics]

Youtube
Photo credit: Fiat
March 5, 2012
By: CF staff

Fiat presents the first official images of the 500L, the new model which will have its world preview at the International Geneva Motor Show on 6 March this year.

500L - the L stands for ‘Large’ - is the new addition to the 500 range, which, following the Abarth and Cabrio versions, furthers the brand’s strategy, with the aim of extending its offer by introducing models in a position to satisfy different types of customers.

With the ‘L’, the 500 expands and grows together with customers, to accommodate new experiences and needs once more. Read more.

[BasiliskSt]

The family targeted FIAT 500L is a good looking, cohesive design that maximizes space in a small footprint. Urbanites should love it for easy parking with its short overhangs and good visibility. Gas keeps going up, frugal gas sippers are going to be more important. I like the new FIAT a lot, and not just for what they've done for Chrysler. I wonder if these wouldn't sell better inside a Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/FIAT showroom rather than in stand alone FIAT Studios. Regardless, it looks to be a competitive product in what will be an increasingly important segment worldwide and in the U.S.

I'm increasingly convinced doing a good small car design is harder than a larger canvas midsize. As a designer, your target price point is low, styling matters but so does utility/functional maximization. These are not primarily ego cars but practical cars. Cute can work but please don't offend the eyes and what's cute varies somewhat culture to culture. Nissan's asymmetric Cube is popular in Japan, but not so much here. The FIAT 500L is clean, smooth and modern. It's a very nicely executed small car design. I hope it can get some market traction in the U.S.

[Ix3understeer]

What I like:
>funky styling

What I dislike:
>No Abarth?

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