Fiat Smiles and GM Changes its Mind

The worlds largest 500C visits the UK and the General reverses course on the Vue clone for Buick

The view from Auburn Hills

For those of us here at LotPro.com, the auto industry has always been a source of unending entertainment and events this week have certainly not proven us wrong.

Supermini goes large

On Wednesday, Fiat announced that the world’s largest Fiat 500 – five times the its normal size – would be coming to London for an event the company calls “The Big Smile.”

Designed to generate an awareness and interest in the new 500C, the 5:1 model has previously appeared at auto shows, although the latest iteration simulates the “open top” 500C, rather than the sedan through the use of a projection of the sky on the inner lining of the car’s roof.

If you happen to be in London between August 28th and September 2nd, it might be fun to check out the “big” Fiat, along with assorted roaming entertainers, stilt walkers and food stalls on Oxford Street.

Buick’s Saturn Vue/Opel Antara clone gets the axe

In a rapid reversal of events, GM Vice Chairman Tom Stephens reported on his “Fast Lane” blog yesterday that the compact Buick CUV that he announced in Traverse City a few weeks ago and that had been described by Stephens, himself, on August 10th as a “beautiful new crossover” that would “debut our new plug-in hybrid technology” and “firmly put Buick, and GM, front and center in the advanced technology game” was history.

According to his blog, the small SUV “received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences (at a future product showcase at the company’s Milford Proving Ground) that it didn’t fit the premium characteristics that customers have come to expect from Buick.”

In the blog, he goes on to state that, “We were all struck by the consistency of the criticism of the compact crossover. And what we decided to do in response is a good example of the essence of the new General Motors… acting quickly, and boldly, and listening to feedback from customers, employees, dealers, media and just about anyone else with an opinion.”

Considering the fact that the erstwhile Pontiac Aztec also received less-than-glowing reviews from its focus groups (and we all know how that project ended), the decision to “86” the Buick was probably a prudent one.

The good news, however, is that the hybrid technology originally intended for the vehicle will be, according to the same blog, “applied to another vehicle, at no delay.”

Images courtesy of Fiat U.K. and General Motors

Tags: big smile 500C, buick, fiat, fiat 500, gm, london, opel, opel antara, pontiac, pontiac aztek, saturn, Saturn VUE