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of view of providing a diferent approach to what the 500 could be. Want to know what pressure is? Consider the way that Jason Stoicevich, vice president FIAT Brand, describes the 500X: "This is the halo of the brand. The game-changer for this brand." He points out that the 500X is the frst car that people from Auburn Hills and Turin jointly developed. (Or, as Matt Davis, head of FIAT brand product marketing, points out: "This was not taking an existing car and homologating it." The sheet was clean when the program commenced.) This halo was designed, engineered and built from the ground up to capture some of the massively growing small crossover market, pure and simple. Want to know what extreme pressure is? Consider the way that Olivier Francois, president and CEO, Fiat Brand, describes the 500X: "This is a defning product for the brand." Yes, the man who is in charge thinks that this is the car that may be (compara- tively) small, but which has HUGE implications for Fiat, not only in the U.S. Fiat sales have been comparatively modest since it has been on ofer in the U.S. market. In 2011, the 500 was on sale for 10 months. 19,769 vehicles were sold. The following years went like this: 2012, 43,772; 2013, 43,236; 2014, 46,121. But the reason why, small numbers notwithstanding, Fiat is important, is because they've discovered that nearly 9 out of 10 customers are not Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, or Ram buyers. These are new people coming into the FCA franchise. While Francois acknowledges that Fiat is not going to become a major brand in the U.S. market—he says Fiats are "cute, the front, there are the double round headlamps. The trapezoidal nose. The so-called "whiskers" that fank the Fiat badge. The clamshell hood. From the side, there's a character line that wraps around the vehicle, and the trapezoidal greenhouse. The rear features a forward-canted hatch with a rounded backlight. The tail lamps are vertically oriented. All of these say "500" with a Piedmontese accent. Because this is a crossover, or as Tosetti describes it, "a 500 that has been pumping iron," there are bigger wheels and a greater ground clearance, as well as cladding around the lower areas to indicate a certain stylish toughness. On the inside of the car, Tosetti says For all that, there is still a certain play- fulness of the interior design. Tosetti describes the design of the dash- board as being robust—"like Popeye." The 500X, says Art Anderson, vehicle line executive, is based on the "small- wide 4x4" platform. Anderson and the name of that platform may be familiar to some people because he worked on the Jeep Renegade compact SUV, and the Renegade and the 500x share the same platform. p The interior combines a couture fair with a robust physicality, combining the aspects of this being an iconic 500 but one that has AWD functionality. small, spirited, efcient—everything that makes it very challenging for this market"—he also undoubtedly wants to extend the reach of the brand, which means that Tosetti had the eyes of the head ofce keenly upon his work. The 500X was designed at Centro Stile in Turin. Tosetti says that he worked to integrate many of the design cues of the Cinquecento into the car. At there was attention to details. The quality of the materials was an area of concern. And, of course, there are modern tech touches, such as available Uconnect 6.5 radio with a 6.5-in. high- resolution touchscreen and navigation, Bluetooth streaming audio, Uconnect Access Via Mobile, a 3.5-in. color thin- flm transistor (TFT) cluster display, Keyless Enter 'n Go, and heated front seats and steering wheel. AD&P; > June 2015 > FEATURE > Designing the Fiat 500X > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofeldguide.com 20