Fiat has announced plans to increase the production of its new, highly sought-after, 500 supermini.
The Italian car giant has got the whole of Europe going crazy over its new re-imagined city car and plans to boost production by 20,000 units, which will come as a relief to many car buyers across Europe .
The 500 supermini is proving to be a sales phenomenon. Fiat reported that 10,000 deposits were taken on the car on its first day of release.
To date it has 57,000 dealer orders from Italy and France, which are currently the only countries where you can order one from, meaning that nearly all of the cars Fiat was intending to produce this year have already been bought.
Italy’s biggest car manufacturer will now look to produce 67,000 units by the end of this year and 140,000 units in 2008, at its 500 factory in Tychy, Poland . If sales continue to exceed expectations then a further rise in production could take place in 2009, by which time the new Ford Ka – the 500’s sister car - will be available.
As for the UK, an order date has been set for 15 September, with first arrivals expected to be seen on Britain’s roads by spring next year.
