Earlier this month, Fiat began shipping production Fiat 500 Abarths to its Fiat Studios located across the country. The 500 Abarth has been hotly anticipated by waiting owners, some of which have put down deposits on the car over a year ago.
Production at the Abarth's assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico has ramped up as it has been inundated with orders since the order banks officially opened on March 3. The huge demand for the limited production Fiat 500 Abarth has caused Fiat to re-evaluate production numbers for the car and has lead to some delays, most notably to cars with cloth interiors.
When you order a Fiat, the order first goes through various stages where materials and supplies are allocated, manufacturing logistics are worked out; the car is scheduled and a VIN is issued. This can take a week or more, especially if they are waiting for supplies.
Fiat Production Codes and what they mean. These codes describe the various stages in the build process.
| Unscheduled: | BX – good order available for scheduling BB – fleet order only – review by bid department BD – special equipment processing BE – edit error – coding error which must be corrected before order can be scheduled BG – order has passes edit but cannot be scheduled regardless of sold status |
| Reason Codes: | F – finance hold – automatic cancellation after 15 days B – model or option build out L – material restriction M – material hold (fleet) ZA – canceled order |
| Scheduled: | C – tentative schedule D – firm schedule: serial number assigned, approx time in station – 5 days D1 – gateline: unit sequenced for production, est ship date assigned, Approx time in station – 12 days |
| Build: | E – framing F – paint G – trim |
| Built: | I – unit built, pending final inspection J – vehicle passed final inspection but not released to carrier JB – shipped to body vendor JE – shipped to emissions JJ – consigned to body vendor JS – shipped to storage KZ – released by plant and invoiced |
| Traffic Codes: | KZ L – released but not shipped KZ M – first rail departure KZ N – first rail arrival KZ O – delayed/received KZ OA – plant hold, quality audit KZ OB – zone, dealer, sales, vehicle prep, tax, diversion or derailment hold, dealer refusal, vehicle diverted KZ OC – carrier delay, strike-bound, emission or safety hold, rail car shortage, bad or insufficient load, inclement weather, need shipping order, manifest error KZ OD – mechanical failure, glass damage, vehicle in repair, lacking parts or storage hold KZ OE – mis-dropped or mis-shipped vehicle KZ OF – shipped air freight, stolen vehicle recovered, show vehicle, test info code, vessel sailed KZ OG – damaged vehicle, stolen vehicle, abandon to carrier, vehicle scrapped, donate vehicle, repair and auction KZ OH – all other “O” type carrier codes KZ T – second rail departure KZ U – second rail arrival KZ X – delivered to dealer KZ Y1 – major damage – must not be sold as new KZ Y2 – major damage – vehicle sold at auction |
| Source: | Fiat500USA.com |
After the car recives a scheduled build date (D1 status), it normally takes approximately 2 weeks to go through manufacturing to get to the shipping phase. This is what happens during that 2 week time period: the 500 Abarth is filtered into the assembly line along with other Fiat 500s and Dodge Journeys produced at Toluca. Once on the production line, it takes approximately 16 process hours to make. Cars go through various quality checks, some are given an extended test drive (30 miles or so), then the cars are put in storage until it is their time to ship out.
After the car is shipped out from the factory, depending on where it is going, it typically takes a few weeks to get to a distribution yard, where it is then loaded onto a car carrier for delivery to a Fiat Studio.
For regular production cars, this whole process can take 6 to 12 weeks. However, it can be anticipated that limited production cars can take longer. Contact your Fiat Studio to get your VON (Vehicle Order Number) and track your car's progress online (read about that here). Keep in mind the Fiat online tracking site sometimes lags behind considerably. If this is the case, call Ciao Fiat (1-888-242-6342) to get the latest news.
One of the first truckloads of new Fiat 500 Abarths were delivered Friday to Fiat of Austin, Texas. You can view the images on their Facebook page here. Other 500 Abarths are in transit, heading towards a dealer near you. Call the dealers below... April is Abarth month!
Criswell FIAT of Gaithersburg, Maryland - 1-888-878-2488
FIAT of Austin, Texas - 1-877-908-3428
Palmen FIAT of Kenosha, Wisconsin - 1-888-379-0295
Classic FIAT of Mentor, Ohio - 1-888-431-7186
Capitol FIAT of San Jose, California - 1-888-814-0969
Safford FIAT of Tysons Corners, Virginia - 1-888-716-2490
FIAT of Fredericksburg, Virginia - 1-888-904-4977
FIAT of Larchmont, New York - 1-888-405-2249
or go to the Fiat USA website here to find your nearest dealer.
Fiat 500 Abarth
Fiat 500 Abarth Owner
US Fiat 500 Abarth
US Fiat 500 Abarth Production
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5 (
88 ratings )
- Sunday, April 15, 2012
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