For immediate release                                                              
12 March 2008

NEW FIAT FLAGSHIP STORE OPENS WITH CELEBRATION PARTY

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd has just opened a stylish new Flagship Store in London’s West End, and is marking the occasion with a design exhibition and celebrity party.

The showroom, located in the heart of the capital at Wigmore Street, London W1, features a cutting-edge interior of chrome and glass which provides a superb backdrop to the range of Fiat cars on display.

The company took the car world by storm in January when it launched the iconic new Fiat 500 by ‘flying’ it in one of the capsules on the London Eye. Now Fiat is establishing its new Flagship Store as a ‘cool’ place for car buyers and Fiat enthusiasts, as well as marketing it as a venue for corporate meetings, fashion shows, art and design exhibitions, and as a lavish set for film makers.

Broadcast giant CNN has already booked the Fiat Flagship Store for a high level seminar for the automotive world’s leading marketers and media opinion-formers.

Coinciding with a glittering celebrity party kicked off by the Italian Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona, the opening night exhibition, called Fiat Workpop 500, featured the work of 22 young designers who are competing to design an accessory for the Fiat 500 that will be chosen to go into production, and become available for general sale.

Top international designer Ron Arad, Head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art, and chairman of leading Italian homeware group Guzzini, is heading the competition’s panel of judges.

Ron Arad attended the Fiat Flagship Store opening night (Tuesday 11 March) along with Fiat Centro Stile’s Roberto Giolito – the designer and ‘father’ of the Fiat 500 –Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK, Tony Dittli, managing director of the Flagship Store, and Elena Bernardelli, marketing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK.

“The Fiat 500 Workpop exhibition, our relationships with the London Design Museum, where the new Fiat 500 is being exhibited, and the London Design Festival, which we sponsor, reflects Fiat’s enthusiasm to interact with our style and design partners,” says Elena Bernardelli.

For Fiat Flagship Store media enquiries please contact:
Paul Ridley Limited
www.paulridleyltd.com

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MEDIA NOTES

Customer demand for the new Fiat 500 – Car of the Year 2008 – is so high that manufacturing capacity is being increased from 500 to 750 units a day. At last week’s Geneva Motor Show, Fiat unveiled a high performance 500 Abarth model with a 135hp turbocharged 1.4 engine, which will go on sale in mainland Europe from this summer.

For more details on the Fiat range go to: www.fiat.com

For motoring media enquiries please contact:
Peter Newton, Public Relations Director
Tom Johnston, Press Relations Manager
or Puneet Joshi, Press Relations Officer

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd
Tel: 01753 511431
Fax: 01753 516871

E-mail addresses: peter.newton@fiat.com / tom.johnston@fiat.com / puneet.joshi@fiat.com

This press release and photographs are available on www.fiat4media.co.uk

Ron Arad
Born in Tel Aviv, Ron Arad studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Art before moving to London to attend the Architectural Association.
He is currently Head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art.

Ron Arad’s work is featured in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

For more details please go to: www.designmuseum.org/design/ron-arad

Guzzini
Founded in 1912, Guzzini is a leader in the manufacturing of household articles and recognised by its distinctive style, where the aesthetic meets the functional and innovation meets traditional Italian design.
The best names in international design work with Guzzini thanks to the company’s ability to combine quality and beauty that gives a new dimension to the domestic landscape of food and tableware.

For more details please go to: www.fratelliguzzini.com

London Design Festival
The London Design Festival is now in its sixth year and has become a fixture on the international creative calendar.

With more than 200 projects and audiences reaching 300,000, it has quickly become one of the most important design events in the world.

For more details please go to: www.londondesignfestival.com

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