The Struggle is Real: Fiat is Aggressively Reducing Prices for 2017

Fiat’s pain is your gain, assuming you are in the market for something small and quirky.

As expected, the company’s revamped pricing structure will drop the sticker on many of next year’s models. That includes a $5,205 reduction on the company’s squirrely little scorpion, the 500 Abarth, if outfitted correctly.

According to documents obtained by Automotive News, Fiat’s going to be aggressively cutting prices in 2017. The pricing adjustments were eluded to in March after a special North American Fiat dealers summit convened to save the faltering brand. By September, we began learning exactly what that could mean for the brand with consistently declining U.S. sales.

The intercepted document sent out to Fiat dealers indicates an markdown of the base 500 from $16,995 to $14,995 and a $5,205 drop in the 500 Abarth Cabrio. It also outlines that the company will have fewer trim levels for its lineup, seemingly done to avoid continued pricing overlap. Reducing the open-topped Abarth to a more modest $21,490 provides important breathing room between it and Fiat’s incoming 124 Spider.

500 trims have been cut from six to three, with the convertible being a $1,495 option on all of them. The 500L and 500X have been similarly deflated, with the 500X priced slightly higher overall. FCA’s head of passenger car brands, Tim Kuniskis, told Automotive News that the 500L and 500X had been “tripping over each other” in both pricing and content. The 500X essentially came into existence only to steal potential sales from the 500L. While still similar in cost and offerings, the limited number of trims helps to better differentiate the vehicles.

Fiat’s reintroduction as a U.S. brand in 2011 has been difficult. North American sales peaked in 2014 and began to slide as the brand introduced more models to its lineup. Compared to last year, Fiat’s U.S. sales have declined every month in 2016.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]