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Sunday, April 15, 2012

New Fiat 500 Abarth Making its Way to Dealers


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.
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