2013's The Good 12 - Fiat 500 Turbo - $15,000-$20,000

FIAT 500 TURBO

Remember all the times you questioned whether 101 horsepower was enough in a modern automobile? Fiat heard your concerns.

The 135-horsepower 500T is no Abarth. This wasn't the car Tracy Chapman was singing about. But it's plenty swift. Horsepower is, after all, up 34% in a car which weighs just 5% more. It is indeed the 500T's weight, the wonderful lack of weight, which makes it such a worthwhile drive.

Tipping the scales at just 2477 pounds, the Fiat 500 Turbo is spectacularly maneuverable and eminently chuckable. Rather fortunately, the 500's ride never deteriorates the way you'd expect from a car with less than eight feet of wheelbase. 

Fiat did more to this 500 than just up the underhood ante. There's a subtle bodykit, upgraded brakes, and the 500 Sport's suspension. 

Compared with more conventional cars like the best-selling Honda Civic, Good 12-winning Kia Rio, and pricier Volkswagen Golf, the 500 is a bit of an oddball. Yet its flair is distinctly Italian. In North America, unless you can afford a Ferrari, Maserati, or Lamborghini, the 500 is the only way to find that seductive flair.

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Engine: 135 horsepower; 150 lb-ft of torque from a turbocharged 1.4L four-cylinder

Base USD/CAD Price: $19,500 / $18,495

City Fuel Economy: 28 miles per gallon

It's Not Perfect: There are rear seats in the 500T, but they're difficult for an adult to access and even more difficult for an adult to tolerate for more than a moment. Some interior parts don't measure up to the high quality of other parts. Too cute can also be too much of a bad thing. And though clearly not a guzzler, fuel economy isn't the 500's strong suit.

Sales Stats: There was one rival in view when Fiat returned to North America. Fiat's 500 is easily outselling the whole Mini brand in Canada, and in the U.S., the 500 is right in line with equivalent Minis. The turbocharged mid-range car will only generate greater Cinquecento volume.

Viable Alternatives: The Mini Cooper springs to mind.

The Good 12

Kia Rio 5-Door - Fiat 500 Turbo - Volkswagen Golf GTI
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Dodge Ram - BMW 328i
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor - Chevrolet Suburban -
Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon - Porsche Boxster S - 
Porsche Cayenne S - Land Rover Range Rover

The Bad 8

Chevrolet Spark - Chrysler 200 Convertible -
Ford Escape Titanium AWD - Honda Crosstour - 
Lincoln MKS - Nissan Versa Sedan -
Toyota Corolla CE - Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

The Good 12 Rules

What Can The Fiat 500L Do For Fiat USA?

Let's assume for a moment that the new Fiat 500L will undercut the Mini Countryman in price, just as the 500 undercuts the Cooper. With that assumption in mind, we'll assume that the stylistically-challenged Fiat 500L might sell at least as often as the Countryman. 

The 500L is only available with front-wheel-drive. Even the Mini is only available with all-wheel-drive at the top of lineup. Neither car is a faithful design follower of the iconic original; the Fiat less so. Neither car is particularly quick. Both cars feature highly stylized interiors, neither of which is roomy like a proper SUV. By Mini standards, the Countryman isn't pretty. By car standards, the Fiat is ill-proportioned.

Regardless of their stark differences and apparent similarities, it's safe to project approximately 20,000 annual U.S. sales for the 500L, based on the Mini Countryman's total. Fiat USA will likely sell around 43,000 500s in 2012.

If the 500L can find 20,000 buyers in 2013 while selling another 43,000 500 hatchbacks, where does this position the Fiat brand?

Strictly judged by volume,  Fiat would only barely be trailing Mini. Fiat would be selling nearly as many cars as Volvo and would be selling twice as many vehicles as Porsche. 

Even if the 500L becomes a 20,000-units type of vehicle, Fiat won't sell 20,000 in what will be an abbreviated 2013 launch year. Yet we can still expect to see Fiat's 2013 year-end volume climbing at least 40% even if the 500 posts no year-over-year sales increase.

Check out historic monthly and yearly sales figures for the regular Fiat 500, Mini Cooper range, Mini Countryman, and any other vehicle or brand by making your selection at GCBC's Sales Stats home. U.S. brand rankings, where Fiat ranked 29th in October and Mini ranked 24th, can be accessed here.

June 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

The Fiat 500 made its third consecutive appearance on the list of the United Kingdom's ten best-selling cars, but the 500 was a long way from the top. In June, America's best-selling car sold 1.7 times for every single sale of America's tenth-best-selling car. But in the UK, the best-selling Ford Fiesta sold 2.7 times for every Fiat 500, the UK's tenth-best-selling car.

In other words, the Ford Fiesta is a hugely dominant car. It accounted for 4.9% of all new vehicle sales in the United Kingdom in June 2012. Through six months, the Fiesta's year-to-date lead over the Vauxhall Corsa is now at 12,423 units.

BMW 3-Series sales jumped 29% to 5830 in June, good enough to make the 3 the UK's fifth-best-selling car and easily the best-selling premium brand car.

GoodCarBadCar has also published June 2012 rankings for every automobile brand competing in the United Kingdom. For now, have a look through this list of the top 10 best-selling cars in the United Kingdom. The list of America's 30 best-selling vehicles in June was published two days ago.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	June 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	9063	+ 2.7%	59,570	+ 15.3%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	8800	+ 12.7%	47,147	+ 22.2%
#3	Ford Focus	6937	- 13.9%	43,853	+ 0.6%
#4	Volkswagen Golf	6311	+ 14.7%	34,572	+ 4.4%
#5	BMW 3-Series	5830	+ 28.6%	23,035	+ 5.3%
#6	Vauxhall Astra	5472	- 4.4%	30,483	+ 7.3%
#7	Mini	4807	+ 0.6%		18,619
#8	Nissan Qashqai	4775	+ 21.9%	23,435	+ 17.2%
#9	Volkswagen Polo	3378	n/a	22,349	- 2.4%
#10	Fiat 500	3324	n/a	17,437	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
Mini refers to non-Countryman sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - July 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - May 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - June 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - June 2012

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - May 2012

For the first time since February 2011 the best-selling car in the United Kingdom isn't a Ford. 15 months after the Volkswagen Golf stole the Ford Fiesta's assumed position, the Fiesta's most direct rival, the Vauxhall Corsa, takes over as the best-selling car in the UK. This doesn't mean the GM car is the year-to-date leader, not by any means. The Fiesta's lead through five months shrunk only slightly to 12,160 units.

13.3% of the new vehicles sold in Great Britain in May 2012 were General Motors products. 39% of those GM sales were Vauxhall Corsas. Another 25% were Vauxhall Corsas. Another 14% were Vauxhall Insignias. With 1430 Chevrolet sales, this means Vauxhall sold 3480 Agilas, Merivas, Zafiras, Mokkas, and Antaras.  

Volkswagen's Golf and Polo combined to account for 59% of all VW sales. The Fiesta and Focus were responsible for 66% of Ford UK volume in May 2012. Only 31% of Fiat UK sales in May were Puntos, Pandas, Bravos, Qubos, or Doblos. Mercedes-Benz has sold 14,434 C-Class sedans, coupes, and wagons in the UK so far this year, 321 more than Fiat has managed with the 500 and 500C.

May 2012's 10 best-selling cars in the UK have been posted below. Brand-by-brand rankings were published earlier this morning. It was a good month for auto sales across the pond, as the market grew 7.9%. That's nearly 12,000 units. The best-selling Vauxhall Corsa alone found 3045 more buyers than it did a year ago.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	May 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Vauxhall Corsa	8413	+ 56.7%	38,347	+ 24.5%
#2	Ford Fiesta	8337	+ 24.8%	50,507	+ 18.0%
#3	Ford Focus	6983	+ 7.6%	36,916	+ 3.2%
#4	Volkswagen Golf	5867	+ 5.9%	28,261	+ 2.3%
#5	Vauxhall Astra	5433	+ 8.4%	25,011	+ 7.9%
#6	BMW 3-Series	3520	- 13.3%	17,205	- 0.7%
#7	Volkswagen Polo	3228	+ 11.0%	18,971	- 3.4%
#8	Nissan Qashqai	3179	+ 3.1%	18,660	+ 16.1%
#9	Vauxhall Insignia	2949	- 30.0%	15,031	- 24.9%
#10	Fiat 500	2823	n/a	14,113	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 19647 16738

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - June 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - April 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - May 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - May 2012

Mini USA Sales Chart - January-May 2012

To go along with the 6153 Minis sold in the United States in May 2012, Americans also acquired 4003 Fiat 500s, and 3002 Volkswagen Beetles. Scion found 897 iQ buyers; smart fortwo sales jumped 43% to 703.

On the subject of Mini in particular, sales rose 6.1% in May and are up 6% through give months. Mini sold 5801 vehicles in the United States in May 2011. Mini sales reps now have two more cars to work with than they did a year ago. With a 123-unit increase from the Convertible, 66 more Countrymans, plus the 541 Coupes and Roadsters, Mini did indeed manage to post that narrow year-over-year increase. Without the Coupe and Roadster, Mini USA was down 3.3% in May and is off last year's pace by 2.5% year-to-date. 

America's new car market grew 13% in the first five months of 2012. This means Mini USA's growth is not as healthy as the overall market's. BMW's own BMW brand is up 14% in 2012. At this point last year, the Mini brand accounted for 21.1% of all BMW-Mini sales in America. That figure has fallen to 19.9% in 2012 despite the addition of Coupe and Roadster Minis. 

Mini's reliance on new bodystyles to supply a small amount of growth shouldn't come as a shock to auto observers who've already realized that the Fiat 500 and 500C outsold their two direct Mini rivals by 674 units in May. The 500L looks like too much of an ugly duckling for Fiat to steal more sales from Mini.

Click Chart For Larger View

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Mini USA Sales Chart - January - June 2012
Mini USA Sales Chart - January-April 2012
Mini USA Sales Chart - January-March 2012
Mini Countryman S ALL4 Driven Review
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - May 2012

Mini USA Sales Chart - January-April 2012

With the addition of two more models, Mini USA sales are up 13.7% this year to 19,911 units through four months. April volume slid 11.1% as sales of the four cars which were available at this time last year slid, in some cases rather harshly. Mini Clubman sales were down 37% in April, for example.

Year-to-date, sales of the regular Cooper Hardtop (including the S and JCW models) are down 4%. The Convertible is down 5.1% to 1503 units. Clubman sales have plunged 25.3%. The Countryman, meanwhile, is up 13.1%. 

Mini's Coupe and Roadster have combined to add 1538 sales. The Mini brand is up by 1124 sales when all models are totalled. America's overall new vehicle market was up 2% in April 2012 and has climbed 10% this year. The overall Mini brand has been responsible 19.4% of all BMW USA sales volume in the first one-third of 2012. Mini, as a whole, is up 3636 units on the 5-Series, but BMW has sold 33,701 3-Series sedans, coupes, convertibles, and wagons.

As for other niche-market small cars, sales of the Volkswagen Rabbit are up 551% to 6738 so far in 2012. The Scion iQ found 3485 U.S. buyers in the first four months of this year. smart fortwo sales jumped 75% from 1734 in the first four months of 2011 to 3028 in the first four months of 2012. 12,699 Fiat 500 hardtops and convertibles have been sold. In Canada, Fiat sales results are broken down by bodystyle.

Sales figures for every model currently on sale in North America can be accessed through the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. Mini sales are divided into Countryman and non-Countryman totals as BMW Canada doesn't provide a breakdown of Hardtop, Convertible, Clubman, Coupe, and Roadster sales. This link will now serve up what we hope will be a Mini USA sales chart each month. Click the above chart for a larger view. 

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Mini USA Sales Chart - January-May 2012
Mini USA Q1 2012 Sales Breakdown
U.S. YTD Sales Through April 2012 - Every Vehicle Ranked
Small Car Sales In America - April 2012
Sporty Car Sales In America - April 2012

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - April 2012

If Toyota Canada considered the Prius to be one car as Toyota USA does, it would have been Canada's 16th-best-selling car last month. But Canadian Prius sales were fairly evenly split in April 2012. Of the 1422 total sold, 39% were Prius C hatchbacks, 34% were Prius V wagons, and 27% were original Prius liftbacks. None of the three came close to cracking the top 20.

The Fiat 500 hung around on Canada's best-selling cars list. After landing in 18th in March, the Fiat 500 fell to 20th in April, 27 units ahead of the 21st-ranked Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Plenty of the 500s sold in Canada have been 500 Convertibles.

Three Kias made it on to April's list of the 20 most popular passenger cars in Canada, falling into a neat little row from 13th to 15th. The Optima was Canada's fifth-best-selling midsize car in April; the Rio was Canada's second-best-selling subcompact. The Good 12-winning Rio trailed only its fraternal twin from Hyundai. The Optima trailed Ford's Fusion, its Hyundai sibling, the Toyota Camry, and the class-leading Chrysler 200. Yes, you read that right.

Top 250 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada
April 2012 YTD - Every Vehicle Ranked

Far above any of these cars, with 2.5 times the volume of Hyundai's Accent and 635 more sales than the second-ranked Hyundai Elantra, sits the best-selling car in Canada, Honda's Civic. Sales of the longtime most popular Canada are up 18% this year and improved at a 15% clip in April 2012. There are no other Hondas in the top 20. The next-best-selling Accord found 684 buyers in April, fewer than Toyota managed with its Tundra pickup.

Updates for every automobile sold in Canada that hasn't already seen its April 2012 and YTD numbers input will be provided over the course of the weekend. You can access these numbers through the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. GoodCarBadCar's April 2012 Canada Auto Sales By Brand post has been updated with figures from Maserati and Bentley. There'll be more best seller lists upcoming, as well, for trucks, SUVs, overall vehicles, and premium nameplates. For now, study these vehicles, the 20 best-selling cars in Canada in April 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	April 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Honda Civic	6007	+ 15.0	20,288	+ 18.1%
#2	Hyundai Elantra	5372	+ 18.0%	16,236	+ 11.8%
#3	Toyota Corolla	4276	- 13.0%	13,230	- 1.9%
#4	Mazda 3	3841	- 11.7%	11,894	+ 11.0%
#5	Chevrolet Cruze	2852	- 29.0%	9599	- 16.7%
#6	Ford Focus	2592	+ 38.4%	7814	+ 21.3%
#7	Hyundai Accent	2432	+ 1.1%	7298	+ 7.6%
#8	Volkswagen Jetta	2397	- 21.6%	7393	- 13.2%
#9	Chrysler 200	2328	+ 97.8%	5087	+ 171%
#10	Toyota Camry	2079	+ 79.5%	6551	+ 128%
#11	Hyundai Sonata	2078	- 12.0%	5609	- 10.4%
#12	Ford Fusion	1934	+ 10.5%	5230	- 2.0%
#13	Kia Optima	1663	+ 1286%	4159	+ 1843%
#14	Kia Forte	1581	- 9.4%	4561	+ 5.8%
#15	Kia Rio	1532	+ 101%	3875	+ 68.4%
#16	Toyota Matrix	1404	+ 7.5%	4195	- 22.6%
#17	Nissan Versa	1374	+ 2.5%	4174	+ 11.3%
#18	Volkswagen Golf	1265	- 5.8%	4023	- 0.5%
#19	Nissan Altima	1257	+ 56.9%	4502	+ 25.5%
#20	Fiat 500	1211	+ 36.2%	3272	+ 149%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - May 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - March 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - April 2011
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - March 2012
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada - April 2012

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - April 2012

The Fiesta's Kid Brother And The
Fiat's Blue Oval Relation, Ford's Ka

The SMMT says Britain's new car market grew 3.3% in April 2012. Year-to-date, new vehicle sales in the United Kingdom are up 1.4%. The best news from April relates to private non-fleet registrations which jumped nearly 15%. 

Irregular though the growth may have been, there's nothing out of the ordinary about the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car in the UK for the third time in four tries this year. Sales jumped 30% in April 2012. Overall Ford sales increased 12% year-over-year. The Fiesta and third-best-selling Focus accounted for seven out of every ten Ford UK sales in the first four months of 2012.

There's nothing odd about seeing the BMW 3-Series on a list of the UK's most popular cars. But in fifth place? The 3-Series was more popular than the Volkswagen Golf in April. American car buyers wouldn't be shocked by this: the 3-Series outsold the Golf by 5127 units in April, the best Golf sales period in at least the last 28 months. In the UK, however, where the Golf is often a candidate for a podium finish, sales of VW UK's top seller slid 28% in April while the top-selling BMW jumped 19%. 

There's one other surprise in the top ten. Last month the Toyota Yaris made a relatively shocking appearance. The Yaris was knocked out in April and in its place sits the Fiat 500. The 500 starts at £9960 in the United Kingdom, a low MSRP enabled by its poverty-spec 1.2L 69-hp powerplant. At £9960, the 500 is £4035 less than an entry-level 85-hp Focus Studio 1.6L. In the United States, on the other hand, the 101-hp Fiat 500 Pop is presently just $795 less than the 160-hp Focus S sedan. 

We're not attempting to indicate that these cars are direct rivals, only that the market structure is seemingly set up to make life difficult for the Fiat in America. April sales numbers tell us that the Focus was twice as popular as the 500 in the United Kingdom but in the U.S, the Focus was five times as popular as the Fiat. And the Focus is not at all close to being America's top-selling vehicle. 

The top 10 best-selling cars in the United Kingdom are posted in the table below.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	April 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	8780	+ 30.0%	42,170	+ 21.6%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	6184	+ 26.5%	29,934	+ 17.7%
#3	Ford Focus	5491	+ 13.4%	29,933	+ 2.2%
#4	Vauxhall Astra	4684	- 4.4%	19,578	+ 11.6%
#5	BMW 3-Series	3737	+ 19.3%	13,685	+ 3.1%
#6	Volkswagen Golf	3600	- 27.6%	22,394	+ 1.4%
#7	Volkswagen Polo	3579	- 20.9%	15,743	- 5.9%
#8	Nissan Qashqai	2990	- 20.0%	15,481	+ 19.2%
#9	Vauxhall Insignia	2751	- 29.7%	12,082	- 23.6%
#10	Fiat 500	2600	-----	11,290	-----

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - May 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - March 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - April 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - April 2012

Canada Auto Brand Market Share - April 2012

The K9 Maybe Wouldn't Do
Much For Kia Market Share

Year-over-year, half of the automotive brands competing for consumer attention in Canada reported sales declines. Many of the brands to do so, including Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet, are big players. Not surprisingly, the overall market slid 1.4% compared with April of last year. Passenger car sales rose slightly, according to Desrosiers Automotive Reports, but light truck sales fell 3.4%.

General Motors took a hit as sales at three of its four brands were down. GM market share fell from 14.1% to 13.4%. The Ford Motor Company also struggled, dropping from 16% in April 2011 to 15.3% in April 2012. This opened up an opportunity for Chrysler Canada to own the largest portion of the Canadian automobile market. That's the third time in 2012 Chrysler ended a month as Canada's leading manufacturer. The addition of Fiat hasn't hurt. 5% of Chrysler Canada's volume in April can be attributed to the 500 and 500C. Excluding Fiat, Chrysler Canada sold 23,235 vehicles, not enough to topple Ford.

Year-over-year, Toyota and Nissan slid ever so slightly; Honda and Volkswagen and Mazda made narrow gains. Hyundai-Kia improved nearly one full percentage point as sales of the smaller brand, Kia, surged 18% in April. Through the first four months of 2012, Kia Canada sales are up 21%.

Click Chart For Larger View

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Canada Auto Brand Market Share - May 2012
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