Freeze It Again, Tony: 2018 Fiat 500 Urbana Edition

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Faced with a tough market, what’s an automaker to do when trying to make noise in a crowded arena? Introduce a special edition, of course.

Fiat’s done just that with its 2018 Fiat 500 Banana Cabana Urbana Edition. The company is dropping this version of the 500 at this week’s New York Auto Show.

Available as an option on the 2018 Fiat 500 in Pop trim (that’s the base model), the Urbana Edition gets black-trimmed exterior lights cribbed from snazzier 500s and a set of 16-inch black aluminum wheels. The all-black-everything theme continues inside with dark shades on the Sport Cloth buckets and an instrument panel spritzed with black paint. Urbana editions featuring similar visual frippery already exist on the 500X and sheep’s-head-ugly 500L.

This author never tires of reading the names bestowed upon paint colors by Italian designers. The Urbana Edition is available in Pompei Silver, Bianco White Ice, Perla White Tri-coat, Granito Gray, and Metallo Gray. Those are excellent names.

Fiat sales peaked in the 2014 calendar year, when the brand sold 46,121 little roller skates to the American public. Last year, that number totalled about half that amount: 26,492. All by itself, the 500 made up 47.9 percent of that number with the 500X and 500L comprising most of the remainder. The 124 Spider caught 4478 customers in its web.

During the first two month of this year, 2,470 Fiat have found homes, compared to 4,309 units during the same period of 2017. I’ll let you extrapolate what that may portend for the rest of this year.

Shoppers strolling into a FIAT store – sorry, studio – will find deep incentives on some models. The 2017 500X front-wheel drive in Lounge trim is advertising itself with $6000 worth of cash on the hood in some markets, not to mention subvented rates.

As we learned a few weeks ago, the entire Fiat 500 lineup is turbocharged for 2018. The 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine delivers 135 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque now across all models. Five years ago, your humble author piloted a turbo-equipped Fiat 500 over 1,000 miles in a snowstorm, finding it to be a tossable unit in the white stuff (unintentionally, sometimes) and quite efficient even in the face of snow drifts and winter tires.

One of the challenges facing Fiat (or is it FIAT? Both are listed on the company’s official docs) is a customer who desires, say, a rip-snorting 500 Abarth model can easily find one for less than $10,000 on the used car market, driving away with a machine that looks exactly like a brand new one costing twice the price.

The 2018 Fiat 500 Urbana Edition will be available this spring.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • 65corvair 65corvair on Mar 26, 2018

    My local dealer, I mean studio has 2017 to sell. There is no point to have Fiats in the U.S. market.

    • See 3 previous
    • WallMeerkat WallMeerkat on Mar 27, 2018

      @krhodes1 It shares a platform with the 2nd generation Ford Ka (a sub-Fiesta hatchback). The 2nd gen Ka wasn't a huge seller, it looked like a generic hatchback compared to the wacky original. (Same could probably be said of the Twingo too). That itself was replaced a couple of years ago by the Brazilian Ka+. Meanwhile MINI are on their 3rd generation since 2001, which has already been mildly facelifted.

  • Geozinger Geozinger on Mar 27, 2018

    This really appeals to me. I like the idea of a little shoebox on wheels anyway. FWIW, it's about time the 500 got some Special Edition love like other FCA models.

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
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