BMW has also been smart with MINI’s positioning, pivoting the brand ethos from being small to being about alternative design, acknowledging it’ll be a niche player. I think this is hard for Fiat to wrap their heads around because they’re traditionally such a dominant brand in their markets.

For North America, in my view, Fiat would be wise to either lean into design with captive import Stellantis products (basically the DS lineup), or go all-in on cheap and cheerful by federalizing their South American products.

I’ve been driving an EA888 powered car in some form or another since 2017 (mk7 Golf, now a B9 A4) and the only issue I’ve had is the Golf having a turbo going out from a bad production batch, replaced under warranty.