Rare Cars in US soils

The European customers have long preferred smaller cars for obvious reasons. Such as the narrow street, high fuel price and tax as well as the reasons of good handling, ride and agility due to the demanding road condition. Not surprisingly the best selling cars are super mini to subcompact which currently the French automaker Peugeot reign, and as bonus they surpass the stringent Euro 5 emission standard by producing the lowest CO2 rate. This is what the American buyers have been missing out; ordinary yet rare cars.

As stated earlier in my previous article on “Inspiring Daily Ride Subcompact Car”; there are two Peugeot models currently lead the European and UK markets; the mini 107 and subcompact 207. The 107 (like its sisters, the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo) is praised for its fuel economy, but strongly criticised for its bland styling and slow acceleration.

The 107 was developed by PSA Group in a joint-venture with Toyota; the Citroën C1 and Toyota Aygo are badge engineered versions of the same car. All three are built at the new facilities of the Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile Czech joint-venture in Czech Republic. It is a four-seater available as a three or five-door hatchback. Significant improvements has made the car produces only 106 grams of CO2 per kilometre as opposed to 109 before and the fuel economy from 61 mpg_-imp (4.6 L/100 km; 51 mpg_-US) to 62.8 mpg_-imp (4.50 L/100 km; 52.3 mpg_-US)

So far the 107 has proven to be quite popular in UK; where it outsells the older Ford Ka and the new Fiat 500. Fiat is another popular mini and subcompact European automaker in its own home with the exception of the 500, and now thanks to the byproduct of US Chrysler’s revival is returning into North America soils. Both brands Peugeot and Fiat were pulling out in 1990s yet the Italian brand enjoys more popularity. Fiat has recently lost its market leadership in European mini subcompact car segment and eager to jump into the band wagon of successful North America Mini-BMW re-entry in 2002.

Yet the question remains, is the Fiat 500 "premium" enough to sell against BMW Group's Mini? Despite its cute style could beat 107 the 500 is not upscale enough to the well integrated and stylistic inside out of BMW package. In fact another Fiat derivative brand the Alfa super mini hatchback may be an easier sell in the $20,000 - $30,000 price range. The Alfa MiTo is built in Italy, on the Fiat Grand Punto's platform, where as the 500 and Ford Ka share the same platform in a Polish factory.
Due to Euro appreciation against Dollar consistent trend Fiat might also find it economical to build one or more of its four-cylinder engines in a North American Chrysler factory. Unlike Renault-Nissan-type alliance, Fiat own 35- to 55-percent of Chrysler, the two could make it into the '20s with complementary line ups and business models.

Should the downturn subside within two or three years period Fiat might have a leg or two to lead the mini car segment in North America providing Ford and VW are not ready yet! Certainly the Peugeot head on competition would not possibly exist; the 107 shall remain rare cars indeed in the near future….

Source : motortrend and wiki

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