At the press conference officially introducing the new Fiat 500 last week, a journalist from Japanese enthusiast website Response.jp asked about plans for the car in the Asian market. In response, Fiat Automobiles boss Luca De Meo replied that the eagerly-anticipated 500 Abarth will make its debut at this fall's Tokyo Motor Show. Fiat already sells cars in Japan, and small cars are ultra-popular there anyway, so this is basically a no-brainer.
The 500 Abarth is also expected to make the journey to the United States in 2010. Footage of the diminutive Italian hot hatch
lapping the Nürburgring has been circulating the web for some time now, and it looks (and sounds) like great fun. There's no question in anyone's minds that the Nissan GT-R will
rule Tokyo, but we have a feeling the pert little Fiat's going to cause a sensation there as well, especially once the show opens to the public. After all, in Japan, cute sells.
[Source: Response.jp (
translated)]
