FIAT has launched the new generation of its hugely successful 500, announcing that it has made 1,800 updates to the previous model — although most buyers would be hard pushed to spot them.
The vehicle in the picture is almost indistinguishable from its eight-year-old predecessor. And why fix it if it ain’t broke?
The outgoing model still sells in growing numbers — last year was its most successful yet in Britain — so it’s unsurprising that the recipe hasn’t changed much.
Fiat boasts that the car’s city-friendly dimensions haven’t altered, unlike rivals such as the Mini that have ballooned in size. This may be a simple cost-saving measure: its underpinnings are little different from those beneath the first modern Fiat 500, which appeared in 2007.