Fiat Chrysler Group has confirmed the local Fiat 500 range will be expanded beyond its current five-model line-up in the coming months.
Chrysler Group Australia's Laurissa Mirabelli confirmed to CarAdvice that the local line-upwould be expanded in June to offer new variations of the Italian city car?beyond the currently available Fiat 500, 500C, Abarth 500 Esseesse, Abarth 500C Esseesse and the 695 Tributo Ferrari.
Commenting on reports of the likely addition of a five-speed automatic gearbox for the Fiat Abarth 500 in North American markets – not currently available – Mirabelli said while an automatic Abarth 500 Esseesse was not part of the Australian product plan, the MTA automated manual gearbox – standard on the Abarth 500C Esseesse and 695 Tributo Ferrari – would be offered in new 500 models as part of the mid-year update.
"There are no autos on the horizon [for Abarth 500 Esseesse] for Australia," Mirabelli said.
"Autos may be part of the US program but Australia gets European models."
CarAdvice reported in January that Fiat will expand its local vehicle range in the coming years, with the Fiat Panda and Punto expected to join the recently released Fiat Freemont SUV.
In Europe the Fiat 500 line-up includes the Pop, Colour Therapy, Lounge, Street, S, ByGucci and Bicolour variants. The larger 500L small MPV is confirmed to arrive in Australia in 2014, followed by the 500X compact SUV variant in 2015.
