The Fiat 500 with a Conscience

This is what advertising is about. Fiat's advertising campaign for the 500 gets the message across about 500's safety and environmental credentials, raises environmental concerns and could even put a smile on your face (the cute panda in the arguably cuter 500, that is, not so much the crashing). The marketing effort targeted at European markets involves shots of a panda bear, penguins and a walrus sitting in 500 and undergoing a crash test. The tagline “Engineered for a lower impact on the environment,” is equally catchy and reinforces what the pictures convey.

Indeed, 500 is safe, achieving the maximum five stars for adult occupant safety in Euroncap testing. It is clean too, emitting as low as 110 grams/km of carbon dioxide in one of its manual diesel variants. Not impressed? Fiat, as a brand, claims to be the cleanest in the whole of Europe, with 133.7 grams/km on average across its model range. But let's assume for a moment that the ultra-cute, ultra-desirable 500 is more polluting than claimed to be, would you want one less?

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.