The Fiat 500X crossover SUV offers a new engine option for 2019, a pint-size turbo-4 that spins out surprising power and promises improved fuel economy. We already liked the 500X and the new 1.3-liter turbo-4's 177 horsepower offer us 177 new reasons to be intrigued. The 500X is only available with...Read More»
The 2019 Fiat 500X crossover will get a new smaller, more efficient turbocharged engine when it goes on sale next year. The automaker released details about its bestselling crossover Monday ahead of the 2018 Los Angeles auto show. Powering the small utility vehicle will be a 1.3-liter turbo-4 that...Read More»
The 2019 Fiat 500 1957 Edition unveiled Thursday channels the small-car builder's past in a big way—at least as big as one of the smallest new cars can. The 1957 Edition package cost $995 and adds color-matched 16-inch alloy wheels designed to look like dog-dish hubcaps, vintage-style Fiat...Read More»
A defective voltage regulator buried in the engine computer in 13,000 2017-2019 model year vehicles built by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) may cause them to stall or not start. FCA, which makes the wide range of recalled crossover SUVs, coupes, sedans, and pickup trucks, said last week that it...Read More»
Sergio Marchionne, the man credited with saving post-bankruptcy Chrysler by merging the Detroit automaker with Italian-giant Fiat, died Wednesday. He was 66. Marchionned died after "unexpected complications" during shoulder surgery in Switzerland. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Saturday that...Read More»
Nearly 15 years after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne took the reins of the global automaker, the only consistent force within the company has been change. On Friday, Marchionne and other FCA executives outlined a broad plan to focus heavily on worldwide sales of Jeep, Alfa Romeo...Read More»
Like an Italian grandmother's gnocchi recipe, the retro-styled Fiat 500 has required lots of tweaking over the years. For 2018, Fiat made more underhood muscle standard equipment and the automaker has correspondingly upped the subcompact hatchback's base price by a hefty $1,250 to $16,245. A new...Read More»
Fiat will roll into the New York auto show this week rocking a new urban-inspired package option designed to dress up its 2018 Fiat 500 hatchback, the automaker said Monday. The appropriately named Urbana Edition was inspired by a similar package already available on the Fiat 500X crossover. On the...Read More»
It will cost consumers $250 more to buy some FCA cars, trucks, and SUVs, even if the advertised price looks the same. The Italian-American automaker discretely raised its mandatory destination charges across all its brands. The destination charge is a number not normally included in a vehicle's...Read More»
Can frugal be fun? Fiat might have shown us that with cars, it can be. Unintended consequences may not be a bad thing sometimes. The 2018 Fiat 500 gets a turbocharged engine in the name of efficiency, but the 1.4-liter turbo-4 also adds 33 percent more power. We haven't yet driven it, but the...Read More»
Much like in the United States, safety standards in Europe are increasingly more stringent. Just as the IIHS gave out far fewer Top Safety Pick+ awards for 2018 the Euro NCAP organization recently downgraded several models upon retesting after each received a mid-life-cycle facelift. The most...Read More»
In an effort give potential buyers a fresh option on the 500X crossover, Fiat just released a new appearance package that it’s calling the Urbana Edition. As such packages go, this one’s fairly comprehensive. The 500X Urbana Edition uses the mid-level Trekking trim as its starting...Read More»
You can be forgiven for not remembering the Fiat 500X. Underneath its cheeky body, the 500X is basically the same thing as the Jeep Renegade. Both share the same engines and transmissions, and their structure is largely identical. Through the first six months of this year, 53,000 Renegades have...Read More»
Kia has done it again: for a second year in a row, the South Korean brand has come out on top of J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study. The Initial Quality Study is a great one for new-car buyers to watch. Unlike Power's equally well-known Dependability Study, which evaluates new cars based on the...Read More»
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling nearly 30,000 Fiat 500L vehicles from the 2014 model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration explains that some of those cars may suffer from a problem that could prevent them from accelerating in certain situations. The problem is rooted in...Read More»
With all the recent headlines about healthcare, Russian hackers, and missing handshakes, the Trump administration has been a bit quieter about its proposed border tax (or possibly, border tariff) than it was a few weeks ago. That's cause for relief among many automakers, especially those who import...Read More»
Another month, another survey from J.D. Power. The firm's 2017 U.S. Customer Service Index examined how satisfied (or unsatisfied) vehicle owners and lessees were after taking their cars in for service. The brand-by-brand rankings probably won't surprise you, but let's take a look anyway. To gather...Read More»
Consumer Reports has issued its annual Brand Report Card, and as interesting as it is, there aren't many surprises to be found. To issue its 2017 rankings, the magazine compiled data on 31 brands. That data came from a variety of sources, including Consumer Reports' own road test scores, predicted...Read More»
In the market for a car--maybe one that's a little gently used? You're in luck: this week, J.D. Power published its 2017 Vehicle Dependability Study, showing which brands are likely to cause the fewest headaches down the road. The Dependability Study is a bit like Power's equally popular Initial...Read More»
