By Gunnar Heinrich

The original Fiat 500 was the Italian car that got Italians moving again after World War II. Affordable on the cash-strapped pockets and maneuverable on ancient strade, the car proved immensely successful.

Now in the same vein as SMART and MINI, the new Fiat 500 has won favor with much of the Italian public for being inexpensive, customizable, and chic.

For their part, the French have taken to the new 500 as well. Fiat has been able to capitalize on this through a successful marketing campaign in France.

According to Fiat, in both Italy and France more than 105,000 500s were sold in the first four months following the July 4th launch.

Apparently, small is the new black and in more ways than one.

[Source:Fiat]