Automotive World

Well, as any driver with some experience on the circuit will tell you, it’s as much about the car as it is about the person sitting behind the wheel. That said, the Abarth 500 shouldn't come close to an STI in the right hands but it's plausible under certain circumstances.

The move, however, came under some heavy criticism. Lopez was attacked on Twitter with messages like “I know I just didn’t see that damb Fiat. I KNOW I didn’t see that friggin’ FIAT” from Roots drummer, Questlove. Singer and award presenter, John Legend, tweeted “that had to be the most shameless thing I’ve ever seen in a performance. I was genuinely shocked.”

The Detroit-based automaker issued a statement saying, "Laura Soave has left the Company and will pursue other interests" adding that she will be replaced by Timothy Kuniskis, who recently served as Director for both the Chrysler Brand and Fiat Brand Product Marketing.

Well as one of our commentators, Vlad Ewan, pointed out, even though Fiat's ad would like us to believe that she is Italian, the bodacious, long-legged model is in fact Romanian and her name for those of you familiar with "Google Image Search" is Catrinel Menghia.

But then again, isn't that the case with the Fiat 500 in the sense that it's not built in Italy but in Tychy, Poland and Toluca, Mexico?

And since we're on the topic of Fiat 500 ads, the Italian company just released nother commercial with Jeniffer Lopez, this time for the limited production 500 by Gucci Edition, which you can watch with or without your palm facing your head in the video after the jump.

The new advertisement conveys the message that the 160-horsepower 500 Abarth is a naughty little Italian city car in a cheeky but tasteful way. The 1-minute long commercial concludes with the female voiceover, "The Fiat 500 Abarth. You'll never forget the first time you see one".

You can take a look at the clip for yourself in the video after break.

The good news is that Fiat opted to offer the 500 Abarth with a more powerful engine than the standard 135-horsepower four-banger that's available on the basic European model.

In the States, the hot 500 gets a turbocharged, twin intercooled and MultiAir-equipped 1.4-liter engine that produces a more robust 160-horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 170 lb-ft (230Nm) of peak torque between 2,500 and 4,000 rpm.

In the same period, Fiat delivered 15,826 examples of its retro styled city car. A recent article on CNN's Fortune magazine states that while "it may be too early to call the 500 a flop, a lackluster start has cast a shadow over CEO Sergio Marchionne's grand plans to expand in the U.S."

But if you take a closer look at what the two brands currently have to offer in the States, it's somewhat unfair to compare the 500s first year of sales with the entire MINI portfolio.

Fiat's 23-second spot starts out by asking viewers "Does this country need another outcast?" and "Does this country need another rebel and another bad boy?", with the actual 500 Abarth only making a quick appearance towards the end.

Well, look at this way; at least it's not another minute-long video tribute to Jennifer Lopez…

After the regular three-door hatchback and the rolling soft top 500C, Fiat is now introducing the most stimulating (from a driver's perspective) version of the series, the sporty Abarth model, which will be making its debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 18.