The cute little Fiat 500 is supported by technology from Magneti Marelli

The little Fiat 500 was rolled out by Fiat India recently and will go on sale very soon. Priced at Rs 12 lakhs approximately, the Fiat 500 will be sold in India as a CBU. Inspired by the Fiat 500 of the 50s, the car is receiving accolades the world over. A novel exhibition was dedicated to the Fiat 500 in Tokyo recently. The event saw more that 500 guests participate, including journalists, entertainers, representatives from Italian institutions, and the managing director of Fiat Automobiles - Lorenzo Sistino. Not very long ago, the Fiat 500 bagged the EcoCarBody 2007 award. It was assigned to the Fiat 500 bodyshell by a forum of around 600 outstanding experts in car body development, manufacturing and assembly.

Supplier and Fiat Group company, Magneti Marelli also played a vital part in the Fiat 500, which is a throwback to the famous economy car launched in 1957. The Fiat design department and Magneti Marelli closely co-operated in connection with the development of the 500. For example, the lighting system, which characterize unmistakable fashion and which represents one of the strongest references to the 500 of the past was designed and produced by Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting. Deserving special mention not only as an example of design, but also for the technology they use, the head lamps feature the DRL (Day Running Lights) function, which turns on automatically when the engine is started. The luminous intensity, higher than the intensity of low beam lights but lower than that of the high beam lights, satisfies the mandatory requirement to drive with the headlights on, however reducing energy consumption.

Magneti Marelli Powertrain is the supplier of electronic control system for the Fire 1.2 petrol engine and the 1.3 16v Multijet turbo-diesel engine. Engines that already satisfy Euro 5 requirements (which will come into effect in 2009) and feature especially reduced carbon dioxide emissions, below the 120 grams per kilometre set as a limit for the year 2012 by the European Union Commission. Magneti Marelli also supplies the exhaust system with catalytic converter and, for models equipped with turbo-diesel, with anti-particulate filter. The Suspension Systems division has developed the suspension system for the new Fiat 500. This includes McPherson setup in the front and twist beam at the rear. The architecture is the same as the one employed for the Fiat Panda, but with some improvements introduced to increase safety, such as the front crossmember designed to absorb the energy of impact in case of head-on collisions.

The infotainment system on the Fiat 500 was developed by the Electronic Systems division of Magneti Marelli. Part of the Blue&Me family of systems found on Fiat cars, the system in the 500 is an innovative "open" platform that can operate with today's consumer terminals and can guarantee compatibility with future devices. Thanks to its Bluetooth technology and the USB plug, it is also capable of connecting to telephones, PDAs, MP3 readers and mass storage devices. The new 500 also features Blue&Me Nav, which combines a satellite navigator function with pictograms and services. But the real novelty consists of the Blue&Me Map 500. The last frontier in the market of portable navigation systems, it presents itself as safe and easy-to-use thanks to the high degree of integration onboard the vehicle, both from an electro-mechanical point of view and from the point of view of connectivity, which uses the Bluetooth of the Blue&Me system. It was developed by capitalising on years of experience acquired in the automotive field by Magneti Marelli, leader in the supply of navigation systems as OEM equipment.

There are considerable advantages deriving from the adoption of this new architecture: data coming from the CAN network of the vehicle is used by the PND to improve navigation, vocal messages are reproduced by the onboard audio system, the navigation pictograms are replicated in the instrument panel and the destination can be entered by means of buttons located on the steering wheel or by means of vocal messages. All this contributes to guaranteeing higher standards in terms of both comfort and safety. In addition to satellite navigation, the Blue&Me Map 500 also offers multimedia functions, such as the reproduction of musical pieces and the display of both short films and images. The Electronic Systems division of Magneti Marelli also produced the original instrument cluster, which represents an ideal union between the retro look - the design is the same as the characteristic round panel of the 1957 Fiat 500 model - and technological modernity. It is offered in two versions-Comfort and Matrix depending on the vehicle model.