• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:01 AM

Three decades ago, Fiat attempted to introduce small, fuel-efficient cars to the U.S. market and bombed. Now that it's allied with Chrysler, it's ready to try again with the 500 model, which it hopes to introduce by 2011. It first must meet U.S. regulatory standards for crash-worthiness and emissions, Davide Berretta reports.

The egg-shaped 500 is only eleven feet long and would be one of the smallest cars available in the U.S. -- between Daimler AG's Smart car and BMW AG's Mini Cooper. It gets 46 miles per gallon and costs $15,793 to $24,146.

The 500 was named car of the year by a panel of European automotive journalists last year, who praised it for its "retro-chic" design, "efficient engines" and modern safety features. It also was the third best-selling car in Italy last year, and sales have actually increased in the first few months of 2009.

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