Fiat 500L |
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Wikipedia: Fiat 500L
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The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Fiat 500 page on 4 January 2017, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The 500L is a five-door, five passenger, front-engine, front-wheel drive, high-roof B-segment MPV manufactured in Kragujevac, Serbia by the Fiat subdivision of FCA — and marketed globally since its debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.
Based on a variant of the GM Fiat Small Platform, the 500L uses Fiat's Multiair variable valve timing engine technology in a cab forward architecture: a packaging concept that prioritizes interior volume. With a total interior volume (passenger and cargo) of 121.1 cubic feet, the 500L features high H-point seating, tall roof and greenhouse, glass front (A) pillar and polyarbonate rear (D) pillar, multi-level rear-cargo area, fold-flat front passenger seat as well as for-aft sliding, fold and tumble, reclining rear seating. In 2013, Fiat began marketing a lengthened 7-seat variant, the 500L Living, in Europe.
The 500L derives its name from Fiat's widely known 500 models, including the original 1957 Fiat 500 and the current Fiat 500, introduced in 2007. Underscoring its increased length and overall size over other 500 variants, the suffix L denotes "Large."
During its development, beginning in April of 2010 when Fiat released its 2010-2014 product development plan, the 500L was internally designated the L0 or Ellezero, and was conceived as a replacement for the Fiat Idea and its rebadged variant, the Lancia Musa. Two variants were announced, five and seven passenger, the latter targeted at North America.
The 500L platform was based on Fiat's "Small" platform, first used with the Fiat Grande Punto, and further developed since its launch in 2005. With the 500L, the platform is both longer and wider, to accommodate the 500L's "Cab Forward" architecture, which Fiat first used with its 600 Multipla. The concept prioritizes interior volume and reduction of the vehicles volume dedicated to mechanicals, moving the cockpit forward, toward the front of the car.
The 500L is manufactured at Fiat’s Kragujevac plant in Serbia, previously the Zastava Automobiles factory. Originally scheduled for manufacture at the Italian Mirafiori plant in Turin, labor relations resulted in the manufacturing moving to the Kragujevac assembly plant. Approximately one percent of 500L production is sold in Serbia, with 90% exported from Servia via the port of Bar, Montenegro.
In 2013, a ship carrying the first 3,000 Fiat 500L units for the North American market docked in the port of Baltimore (United States) to unload its first consignment, subsequently delivering the remainder of its cargo to the Canadian port of Halifax.
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
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| 2 January 2013 | Car finance experts Car Loan 4U comment on the new Fiat 500L | Carloan4U.co.uk |