Following on from the news regarding the 5-door MINI Cooper D triumphing in the Best Compact SME Company Car in Business Car Manager’s SME Company Car of the Year awards 2016, See http://motormartin.com/2016/01/31/news-mini-5-door-hatch-wins-at-business-car-managers-sme-company-car-of-the-year-awards-2016/ the New FIAT 500 has been named City Car of the Year in the 2016 BusinessCar Awards. The award has been decided by the readership of BusinessCar and www.businesscar.co.uk. Rather than being decided by a panel of experts, the BusinessCar Award winners are chosen by the people who rely on their vehicles to help them run their businesses as efficiently as possible on a daily basis. They are also a reflection of the market at large and of the products and services that best meet the needs of the business sector. The BusinessCar Awards remain the only UK automotive awards decided entirely by the readership. FIAT are rightly proud of this award as its customers are directly involved in voting through the magazine.
Sharing the news with MotorMartin, Paul Barker, BusinessCar Editor, “The FIAT 500 is an iconic city car that manages to combine style and fun with benefits of impressive running cost and residual values. To succeed in the business sector there needs to be a case for the head as well as the heart, and our readers obviously feel that the new 500 is well capable of making the case to both.” The FIAT 500 amassed 28% of the votes in the city car category. Impressive.
Since the voting for the 2016 BusinessCar awards closed FIAT has also announced two new business-friendly versions of the New FIAT 500, previously reported on MotorMartin at http://motormartin.com/2016/01/29/news-new-fiat-500-1-2-eco-goes-on-sale-in-the-uk/ are keen for us to know that the FIAT 500 1.3 MultiJet II 95hp is ideal for drivers with long commutes into congested cities while also offering low tax liabilities and minimal running costs without sacrificing driving pleasure, technology or style. The 1.2-litre 69hp ‘Eco’ Pop Star is equipped with a host of efficiency technologies to reduce its official CO2 emissions from 110g/km to just 99g/km compared to the standard 1.2 69hp Pop Star. This cuts the annual road tax bill from £20 to £0 and reduces company car BIK tax liability from 17% to just 14% – and all for a premium of just £100!
According to Sebastiano Fedrigo, Country Manager FIAT UK: “We’re delighted to win the City Car of the Year award in the 2016 BusinessCar Awards because it reflects what the people who use the FIAT 500 day-to-day as part of their businesses really feel about it! And if they loved it before, they’re going to be blown away by the New FIAT 500 with its new styling enhancements, UConnect system with optional TomTom navigation and even lower running costs thanks to the new diesel and ‘Eco’ models!” A quick check over the official figures shows that Sebastiano’s optimism would appear to be well placed as the new engines should suit a wide cross section of urban drivers and offer good value for money as shown below.
Prices for the FIAT 500 start at just £10,890 OTR for the 1.2 litre Pop, while the business-friendly 1.2 Pop Star ‘Eco’ and 1.3 MultiJet II 95hp Pop Star are priced from £11,865 OTR and £14,165 OTR respectively.
BusinessCar is an award-winning fleet industry title offering independent and impartial fleet industry news, advice, information and reviews. The 2016 BusinessCar Awards City Car of the Year award is the FIAT 500’s third major UK award since it went on sale in September.
For images and the latest news on the New FIAT 500 and other models in the FIAT range visit www.FIATpress.co.uk.
It just remains to say a heartfelt MotorMartin well done and I look forward to seeing even more of these stylish City cars on the roads for a long time to come.
Where will you go?