When the new Fiat 500 goes on sale in the UK on 21 January 2008, it will be exactly 500 hours after the start of the New Year. Designed by Fiat Centro Stile, the new car's chic styling boasts visual cues from the past, but it is far from a simple, nostalgic interpretation of Dante Giacosa's iconic Fiat 500 of July 1957.

Taking a quantum leap forward in terms of safety, technology, comfort and equipment for this segment, it represents a company blueprint for a future which embraces a modern approach, new brand strategies, radical innovations in customer relations and a lasting process of expansion. Significantly, the highly innovative Fiat 500 brings several unprecedented attributes to this segment for the first time: The new Fiat has been awarded a maximum 5-star rating in the gruelling Euro NCAP crash test safety programme, placing it at the very top of its category in terms of passive, active and preventive safety.

This is the first time that a car of such compact dimensions, (3.5 metres in length), has achieved a maximum rating, and the first time that a car of its type has been equipped with seven airbags as standard across the entire range. The new Fiat 500 is also the first car to be launched with a full range of frugal, low emissions engines that are not only Euro 4 compliant, but also meet emissions limits which are expected to be set by forthcoming Euro 5 standards, more than two years before the legislative deadline. Nine versions of the new 500, priced from £7900-£10,700 on-the-road, go on sale in the UK at launch, embracing three trim levels - Pop, Lounge and Sport.

The new Fiat offers levels of equipment more usually associated with cars of a far higher segment, with ABS anti-lock braking, remote central locking, seven airbags, electric front windows and door mirrors, an MP3-compatible CD player and Dualdrive electric power steering fitted as standard even on entry level models. The new Fiat 500's comprehensive standard equipment package is further enhanced by a range of innovative, safety and comfort-enhancing options such as automatic climate control, a SkyDome sunroof, parking sensors, an anti-glare electro-chromatic rear mirror, an Interscope Sound System Hi-Fi and Blue&Me mobile phone and MP3 player connectivity with steering wheel controls.

Moreover, the Fiat 500 personalisation programme offers an additional range of over 100 bespoke accessories which, generating more than 500,000 possible trim, colour and option combinations, gives owners the opportunity to personalise the new Fiat to levels unprecedented in this segment.