Testdriven: Fiat 500

[Jecht]

Hey all, did another testdrive on my blog, this time its the 1.2L Manual Fiat 500

 

http://iwant2puke.blogspot.com/

 

hope you guys enjoy it! Once again, comments and advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

Edited May 21, 2008 by Jecht

[Felipe]

firstly it's a cute car. not that i look down on cute cars but who buys cute cars? Mostly girls. And 9 out of 10 girls who like cute cars don't drive manual. The manual girl drivers will probably look into faster minis and even then, mini manuals are struggling to sell, even to the males!

 

next, it's the price. as u stated in your blog, the price tag of the old 500 makes it attractive. But at 76k???? I can get a 147 2L for just about 10k more and whole lots more power and style and its auto! Who is TTS trying to kid?

 

i'm probably one of the few guys who will appreciate the 500. but no, the price is way off. The appeal of small Fiats is its affordable price tag plus loads of style. This is shocking pricing indeed. I haven't compared to the UK pricing but a good gauge would be to look at the 500 UK pricing. I wonder if this is truly a pricy car or the dealers made it expensive. I suspect it's the latter. Meantime, let me try to find out that info.

[Felipe]

some quick info on pricing from UK sites.

 

Fiat 500- about 9000 pounds

Mazda 2- 11000 pounds

 

In SG, Mazda 2- $53000

Fiat 500- $76000

 

Anyone with a common sense can easily know which car has way better value. I have no doubts the 500 is unique. But pay what it is worth.

[Perrier]

Based on their marketing strategy, they will usually price the car quite high and then reduced it. From the days of the Fiat Punto to Grande. How I know, coz I nearly bought the old Fiat Punto.

 

I guess this is for a very niche market. Personally, with that money, I would pay a little more for a Civic 1.8

[Comfy]

i agree totally with u at the pricing... i would expect it to be around 65k for an auto at most.. which means TTS's margin is super duper high!

[Jecht]

this is the Price list

 

1.2 Lounge Glass Roof (A) $79,900

 

1.2 Lounge Glass Roof (M) $76,900

 

1.4 Lounge Skydome (A) $89,900

 

1.4 Lounge Skydome (M) $85,900

 

niche car, niche market, niche price oso?

Edited May 22, 2008 by Jecht

[Felipe]

fiat 500 is a niche car? fine, so why UK don't price it as niche? or maybe the mazda 2 is niche. anyway, i cant agree with the niche part. if it were niche, wat about the old 500? the blog gave some history and it stated affordable pricing. that still is the case in UK. maybe in SG, Fiat is very special. We sure have better taste than our UK counterparts with a much stronger base in motoring.

 

TTS lower price later on? So how low is the Punto Grande now?

[Comfy]

since u tested it, any details on how flexi are the prices...

[Jecht]

dude, i wasn't defending the price,

just giving some possible tongue in cheek reasons[laugh]

Edited May 22, 2008 by Jecht

[Jecht]

unless COE prices suddenly nose dive

[Paulkon]

From what I saw, the Fiat 500 1.2L that was brought into Singapore with full options (eg Blue&Me, Dual-climate aircon, integrated console unit etc that weren't available in the GP that was brought in). The OMV for the Fiat 500 is close to the Bravo, compared to about 13K or so for the Mazda2 here. For the UK prices, we should probably compare the specs and options included vs the local ones.

[Damienic]

i agree totally with u at the pricing... i would expect it to be around 65k for an auto at most.. which means TTS's margin is super duper high!

 

Comfy, how many cars in singapore with OMV 20K is sold for 65k?? I dare say zero. While I agree the current pricing is too high, I think its unrealistic to expect this car to be sold at anywhere near 65K..No AD in Singapore will sell a 20k OMV car at below 70k. It would be fairer pricing if it comes down to 71-72K..

[Damienic]

fiat 500 is a niche car? fine, so why UK don't price it as niche? or maybe the mazda 2 is niche. anyway, i cant agree with the niche part. if it were niche, wat about the old 500? the blog gave some history and it stated affordable pricing. that still is the case in UK. maybe in SG, Fiat is very special. We sure have better taste than our UK counterparts with a much stronger base in motoring.

 

TTS lower price later on? So how low is the Punto Grande now?

 

Different market can warrant different pricing strategy depending on consumer patterns and trends and market situation of that country. The dealer of that country will take all these factors into consideration and decide how they want to price that particular model. I dun think that just becos UK dun price it as niche means dealers in other countries shld not price it as niche.

[Watwheels]

I think ppl in sg are not used to this kind of car. They'll tend to look at the price and size of the car.

 

I think Fiat is trying to introduce small luxurious car yet low on FC with small engine and light kerb weight. At OMV 20k I think the selling price is comparable to other makes with similar OMV. Of course the typical petrol head would disagree. More power!!

 

The car market may follow this kind of trend of making small luxurious cars which is FC friendly. Looking back at the '70s oil crisis many car manufacturers turn to making small cars. Judging from the oil prices it's just a matter of time.

[Damienic]

In Singapore, this Fiat 500 is likely to appeal to only ladies (very rare for a singaporean man to consider buying this car)...and being ladies, many of them (note that its most but not all) buy cars not so much based on practical issues but more out of a emotional desire..if they see this car they like very much in terms of appearance and ease in driving(many women still apprehensive abt driving bulkier cars which they find harder to park and handle), they will buy. I know of some ladies who tell me stuff like 'wah this car shape/design and interior I like very much, I think I will consider it'..hardly do they consider things such as OMV, how much horsepower it has, what is the engine technology and etc etc. This car appeals to ladies and if they like it very much and can afford the 70K+ budget, they will buy. If they do not like it, no matter how cheap it is they won't buy.

 

Looking at the market segment targetted for this car, it is not difficult to envisage why competitive pricing is actually not a suitable strategy to adopt for this car. There is a small specific pool of potential buyers/fans who will buy this car only and the rest who will not consider this car will not likely increase their interest even if the car price were to drop to 68-69K. This is so as most cars of this size cost below 60K. It will not sound practical in the mind of most pple to splurge over 60K for such a small car. Hence, I believe if TTS were to try and price this competitively in the hope of creating much bigger sales volume for this car, it will not work. There will be an increase in volume but the increase will not be significant.

 

If they price it 77-79K with avg 17K margin but sell 30 units in a yr VS pricing it at 68-69K with avg 8K margin but sell 45 units in a yr, which makes more sense??

 

I dun disagree that this car is overpriced but can understand why the dealer wishes to price it like this.

Edited May 23, 2008 by Damienic

[Watwheels]

They're trying to use the same strategy as MINI. Both are iconic in the past. But both were cheap to buy in the past sad to say.

 

Overprice cars in sg is everywhere. Like what u said rich women will buy them regardless of practicality or size. There are ppl here in this forum will brag about exclusivity owning such a car and not being branded as one of the commonly seen cars on our roads. There will be buyers, dun be surprised.

[Damienic]

The last I heard was that a couple of female celebrities bought it..and someone's wife immediately signed on the dotted line after testing driving it on the spot within a week of its launch..the pool of buyers for this car belongs to the 'wants' rather than the 'needs'.

[Watwheels]

End of the day one must be happy with what u buy.

 

I find it quite nice as a car but like u said most women will prefer to have one.