Fiat recently released October sales for the U.S. market, and the results are disappointing. Fiat sales of the 500 and 500C dropped to 1965, a 71% drop in sales from September. Also, this happened in a month that saw sales increase for many automakers, including Chrysler. There are various reasons for the decline including the 500 losing its “new car” appeal and the dealer network being small, but I only want to point to one source: Jenny from the Block.

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Coming off her breakup with Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez looks spectacular in this new ” target=”_blank”>Fiat commercial! (And the Fiat 500 isn’t looking bad either.)

November 16-17, at the Los Angeles Auto Show, one of the most anticipated cars of 2012 will debut. The Fiat 500 Abarth. Yes, you read that right. The Abarth is not a V8, RWD sports coupe or a trillion horsepower, billion dollar supercar, but the sporting version of the Fiat 500.

Powered by a turbocharged 4 cylinder engine, the Abarth should produce around 180hp, 10 more horsepower than the European version. Also, it only weighs around 2300 pounds, and will probably get close to 40mpg on the highway. This isn’t just eating your cake and having it too, it’s like eating the whole bakery and looking like Brad Pitt.

Not to mention, the Abarth name is steeped in racing history. Founded in the 1950s, Abarth started as an unofficial tuner for Fiats. However, they slowly began to be incorporated into the company to modify cars officially, and organize Fiat’s racing activities, from sports car racing to rallying. For reference, the M badge for BMW has only been around since the 1980s.

After its debut, the Abarth should be on showroom floors the first half of 2012. In these times of austerity, the Fiat 500 Abarth is a battle ax of fun to cleave through the continuing stream of boring cars.

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Stay tuned to Dashboard News since this car will be among others in a post outlining the upcoming Italian automotive renaissance in the U.S.

Scion, the “Youth Brand” of Toyota, has priced their newest car for the American market, the iQ. The Scion IQ is set to hit our shores with a price tag of $15,995. The iQ is Scion’s version of the Toyota iQ sold in foreign markets.

Personally, like the Smart car, I don’t really see the point of this car at all. People buy city cars for style and/or frugality. The iQ posses none of these traits.

First, the iQ looks like the design they threw away while making the Toyota Yaris, which is no looker itself. Short, squat, and wide, the iQ is the exact opposite of how to make a pretty car. In addition, it is a Scion. This may be a plus if you consume bucketfuls of energy drinks per day, and wear flat-brimmed baseball caps, but if you are an actual adult, the Scion badge is a detriment. The iQ’s Quasimodo looks especially come to light when sat alongside the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, its European competition, who have won a case full of international design awards.

Secondly, it is not frugal in the slightest. At $15,995 it is nearly the most expensive in its segment outside the better equipped and better looking Ford Fiesta hatch (the Fiesta sedan is cheaper than the iQ). The Mazda2, Hyundai Accent, and Fiat 500 all undercut it in price and all offer either looks (Fiat), value (Hyundai with its 10 year warranty), or driving performance (Mazda). Not to mention all these cars are larger and will not be mistaken for windup toys when pulling up to someone’s house for a first date. The most glaring flaw is that across the sales floor, Toyota offers the Yaris for around 13K, which is also larger and at least boring to look at instead of outright atrocious.

Finally, you may think that it gets fantastic gas mileage because of its small size and light weight (around 2100 pounds). Wrong again. The iQ gets only 37mpg highway. All of the mentioned competition, except the Yaris, gets more miles out of a drop of gas. Plus, The Yaris only gives up one mpg on the highway to the iQ while also being larger.

At the end of the day, there is no point to the iQ. It is a three year old, warmed over Toyota with a Scion badge that is not cheap, not frugal, and not pretty. The urban commuters the iQ wants to attract are too focused on fashion and badge snobbery to even make a passing glance at a Scion. Fuel misers will go right for more efficient offerings, and people shopping on price won’t buy it either. In fact, Scion’s targeted youth clientele may not buy it either since nothing about a rebadged Toyota that looks like a melted ice cream scoop screams youthful exuberance. The iQ is just another sign that the Scion brand is floundering for life. The car enthusiast’s only hope for the Scion brand is the upcoming FT-86.

With the upcoming launch of the Fiat 500 we now have the first Fiat television commercial in the U.S. since the early 1980′s. Things have been moving quickly at Fiat/Chrysler for the past 18 months which makes it hard to believe the Fiat 500 is actually ready to hit the ground. DashBoardNews and Bullz-Eye.com had a chance to view the car at the L.A. Auto Show and eagerly await an opportunity to drive the Fiat 500!

The upcoming Fiat 500 will be sold with other upcoming Fiat’s in a separate dealer network. To get things started, Fiat dealerships will be located in roughly 125 U.S. metropolitan areas that Chrysler has found to have high small-car registration and grow from there. It will be interesting to see how many Chrysler/Dodge stores apply to be a Fiat dealer as well.

From the Detroit News:

Detroit — Chrysler Group LLC will set up a separate dealership network to sell cars made by Italy’s Fiat Group SpA when they are reintroduced in the U.S. later this year.

The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker said existing Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealers will get a chance to apply to sell the Italian Fiats, but they must be able to operate separate facilities with different sales and service teams in order to win a franchise.

Fiat, which last sold cars in the U.S. in the 1980s, will return to the country in December with the debut of the Fiat 500, a highly efficient, very European-looking small car. Other Fiat models are likely for the U.S., but the company has not made announcements beyond the 500, known in Italy as the Cinquecento.

Read the full article here.

Fiat will sell an all electric 500 in the U.S. starting in 2012. I will have to say that if the 500 has a good launch in the states later this year and follows with the electric version in 2012 this car will be a formidable player in the small car segment. It will go from being a relative unknown in the U.S. to a major player very quickly.

From Car and Driver.com:

After showing a “design study” of an electrified Fiat 500 at this year’s Detroit auto show, Chrysler is confirming its plans to develop and market a battery-electric 500 for U.S. consumption beginning in 2012.

Chrysler and Fiat have previously said that the Americans will handle the electric vehicles for the allied partnership, and this 500EV will be the first EV from the companies. Before the two tied up, Chrysler had planned to build a whole roster of electric vehicles, beginning in 2010. Bankruptcy intervened and that plan appears to have changed.

Read the full article here.

With all the talk about the lack of product for Chrysler and Dodge, the Detroit Free Press takes a harder look and some feel there is a lot more in the works than most give credit. In the next 12 to 18 months, look for a totally new experience when you enter a Chrysler/Dodge/Fiat showroom. The Chrysler comeback might be closer to reality than most of us could have imagined.

We feel the barometer will be how well the Fiat 500 performs when hitting the showroom floors later this year!

We all know Chrysler won’t reap the benefits of its alliance with Fiat until 2012, but that doesn’t mean the cupboard is bare. To the contrary.

This year, Chrysler plans to introduce three new vehicles that are acknowledged leaders in their segments and one new model that gets it into a growing and potentially lucrative new market.

The first Fiat model, the 500, will also arrive, giving Chrysler dealers a sophisticated and chic little car that’s smaller and considerably less expensive than the Mini Cooper.

Read the full article here.

The folks at Chrysler/Fiat have to be excited about the news that the Fiat 500 will go into production in Mexico this December! This little machine is an eye grabber and can’t come soon enough for the dealerships that will well it as a Fiat 500. The competition with the Ford Fiesta and Chevy Cruze should make for some good sport. I hear some of the salespeople at Chrysler dealerships are already comparing Marchionne to the legendary Lee Iacocca! Time will tell but hey, nothing like setting the bar high!

From AutoNews.com:

TOLUCA, Mexico (Reuters) — Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Chrysler will invest $550 million in Mexico to begin production of the compact Fiat 500 model car.

The investment will retool a production site developed by Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy in June under the management control of Fiat. The investment will allow the plant outside Mexico City to begin production by December, said Marchionne, who also heads Fiat.

Read full article here.

Fiat has already announced that they will bring the Fiat 500 to Chrysler showrooms in the U.S. in 2010, and now they’ve announced that the Alfa Romeo MiTo will also be available in America next year.

“The MiTo is going to help us re-establish the Alfa brand in the United States,” said Richard Gadeselli, vice president for communications of the Fiat Group, in a recent interview at the company’s headquarters here.

Though Alfa Romeo left the American market in 1995, the MiTo hatchback will not really be the first new Alfa to appear in the United States since then. The 8C Competizione and Spider have been available through select Ferrari and Maserati dealers since last year. Considering the stratospheric prices of the limited-edition, hand-built 8C, the MiTo will be the first new Alfa intended for general audiences.

Both the MiTo and the 500 will be sold at Chrysler — not Ferrari — dealerships, though they will still wear Alfa and Fiat badges. American-market prices have not been announced, but $20,000 or so seems likely for the MiTo and mid-teens for the 500.

The new Alfa is aimed at “an active, thrill-seeking, performance-minded 20-something.”

I think this is a great move by Fiat. The Fiat 500 and the MiTo will give Chrysler dealerships hip vehicles that appeal to younger drivers who like the Mini Cooper and other small imports. The marketing campaign should be fun to watch.