The facelifted 2017 Abarth 595 hot hatch range will finally arrive in Australia this October, more than a year after it was first revealed.
Speaking with CarAdvice, director of corporate communications at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Australia, Glenn Butler, said the hold-up was due to a change in manufacturing procedures for our market.
“The reason for the delay is we changed the production process to allow direct shipping from the factory in Poland to Australia,” he said. “They no longer need to go via Italy for special bits.”
Now that the vehicles can be sent directly to Australia from the factory – which cuts shipping costs – we could see see those savings passed on to customers, meaning the 595 range could kick off lower than the current $27,500 starting point. For now, though, the company isn’t offering any word on price or any savings potential.
Improvements for the facelifted 595 range essentially mirrors that of the Fiat 500 range, which saw the introduction of revised front and rear bumpers, new LED daytime-running lights, new tail-lights, and the much-needed infotainment upgrade which adds the company’s UConnect central touchscreen – in 5.0-inch or 7.0-inch guises depending on grade, the larger getting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with satellite navigation in overseas markets.
Australian Fiat 500 models only get the 5.0-inch infotainment unit, with the availability of satellite navigation on the top-spec Lounge, though the smartphone mirroring technology remains unavailable for our market at this point in time.
The Abarth 595 range adds to this with power bumps for the entry-level model and the mid-spec Turismo, which now develop 108kW (up 5kW) and 123kW (up 4kW) respectively, while torque remains unchanged at 206Nm.
Meanwhile, the flagship 595 Competizione soldiers on with its decent 132kW/250Nm figures. The top-spec model does, however, now get the option of a mechanical limited-slip differential in overseas markets.
Final pricing and specifications for the updated 2017 Abarth 595 range will be revealed closer to its October launch, so stay tuned to CarAdvice for an update.
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