and for those who think it’s less personalizable then the mini…u can configure a lot more than 500 different 5oos with colors, stickers, wheels, seats, Poltrona Frau leather, etc… it’s really a great car and even if it’s small it get 5stars in euro ncap tests, it has 7 airbags standard and lots of options in the base model, lots more than the mini…costing at least 6/7000$ less than a mini…

maybe u can’t compare a normal 5oo to a mini for its motor options, but for that there’s the ABaRTh wich even having less hp is lighter too.

and for the Quality…do u really think that in more than 30y nothing has changed??? Fiat now sells in Europe lots of top selling cars like the panda, the Grande Punto and naturally the 5oo! And by reviews of european magazines there’s no car with the same quality that the 5oo in its category, including the mini…!!!

if the mexico and usa plants will manage to keep the quality on the europe-level i think it’ll be a huge success in us like in europe

it’s cheaper, smaller but big enough to stay in 4 better than in the mini, and charmier: so why people shouldn’t buy it? it’s really a great car!

As someone who mods cars, I’m not that concerned with a couple of shortcomings on a stock package, I’ll just change it anyway…

The presence of the Fiat will squeeze Mini for sure. I have a driving enthusiast friend who got a Fit, not because it was the best driving dynamic (he’s got a motorcycle and a Subie STI for the sporty drives) but because he got four doors at about $5k-$7k less than a base Clubbie.

Minis costs are high for what you get unless you really decontent the car (read almost no options). Like others have posted (even my best motoringfile buddy Greg, at least on this point we agree), there are lots of other really fun cars that hit the price point of Minis as sold that have to make many buyers think “What about that (fill in the blank)?”

I’ve owned a Fiat before (76 124 sport spider) and it was totally a blast. Yes I had to work on it, but I would have had to work on an MGB as well. And the Fiat had better overall technology in it.

Matt

Key for me — will my portly 6′2″ frame fit in it the way it does in a MINI? If not, she can’t have it. :-)

I believe that the timing of the R56 redesign is crucial to Mini staying competitive with the likes of the 500. Add to this the possibility of the Focus RS and MiTo GTA coming to the states I think Mini will have to be careful to not see the same thing happen to their sales here that have been going on in Europe.

You are absolutely correct about reliability of old british cars, but what was really reliable in those days? MB probably and only handful of others. FIAT today is still a FIAT, no getting away from it, they’ve been making crappy cars through 1970s, 80s, 90s, even very recently. Mini was unreliable, but MINI to me, other than some style cues and a bit (ever decreasing one) of same philosophy regarding handling and size, has very little to do with Mini of old, mechanically nothing at all-it is a BMW. I’ll take BMW quality over FIAT’s any day, thank you very much.

I agree 100% with Gabe’s comment. 500 will grab some portion of customers who would otherwise go to MINI. Enthusiasts will stick with MINI until Alfa brings MiTo GTA (when?) or Renault brings Clio Renaultsport (probably never).

The fact that 500 will be built in US and Mexico is not helping 500’s case. I’d prefer EU built car. We all know what happens with Mexican VW’s. As far as Illinois built ones, I know it will help Chrysler and its workers keep their jobs, but come one, those are probably the guys that have been assembling Neon’s and similar garbage until recently….At least initially, I suspect quality will be a major issue.

As far as MINI coming last in that JDP poll…. I personally despise such publications. The reason: the punch-line is always in the table and the title of the article. Then you read through the auxiliary material published along the table which describes details of how the data was gathered and how it was processed, which are, mind you, necessary, pretty much required, in order to be able to interpret the table itself, and then you realize it means something completely different from what you though initially. What is initial quality anyways? All I care is how the car fares after 4 or 5 years of ownership, that’s what matters. I remember Hyndai Sonta was winner of these initial quality polls for several years a while pack and those cars now both look pitiful and are piles of junk.

Reliability-wise Fiat and Alfa Romeo are much, much better, now average in Europe. If it’s the Mexico plant that used to make the PT Cruiser, that car had excellent reliability, so the 500 would have a reasonable shot. Overall, most modern cars have pretty good reliability these days.

Let’s hope for some awesome classic changes and a little more redialing in of the R50/R53 into the next gen Coopers….

I live in Japan and I’ve been seeing 500s here and there lately. Actually a pretty sweet little car. I went to test drive one out of curiosity, but haven’t found a dealer in Kansai that has a demo vehicle yet. (Only checked 2 dealers so far and both are on posh, busy streets in Osaka.)

Still love my MINI though!!!

A rather harsh thing to say about a car and brand I adore but keep hoping that Mini will realize it has somewhat loss its way in the automotive world.

That alone keeps a MINI in my garage.