This is not the new MINI Countryman. What you see here is a 5-door hatch that takes a page directly from the British brand, right down to the black greenhouse and white roof.
It’s pretty clear that Fiat, with its new 2014 500L, is adaptingMINI’s design evolution by making a larger, more accommodating 500, just as MINI did with its famousCooper. But will Fiat be able to steal market share from MINI and the many other offerings in the segment?
It won't on style alone. Utilitarian though it may be, this thing ain’t a looker. If the original 500 was a cute little guppy, the 500L is an agitated blowfish. The same curvy front end with high-mounted driving lights doesn’t really work this time around, and there’s no denying a hint of Pontiac Aztek in those fenders. Maybe the look works in Europe, but it doesn’t translate here in the U.S. (think skinny jeans).
That said, the 500L just might be the perfect car for a European version of "Breaking Bad." Can’t you just picture the distraught lead character, Waltero, unable to make ends meet as an economics professor, darting through Rome to drop off bags of the blue stuff?
autos.msn.com
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