Major changes in marketing are expected at Fiat as the brand tries to dump the dowdy image it has acquired over recent times and build on the successful relaunch of the Grande Punto.
Last week the firm revealed the first official shots of its new Bravo - set to replace the ill-fated Stilo, and the Italian marque's entrant in the hyper-competitive family hatchback segment. Up against the VW Golf and Ford Focus, the Bravo will be officially unveiled on January 29th and will go on sale in Ireland in May next year.
The new car's arrival coincides with a restyling of the firm's logo. The new symbol is derived from the famous shield that decorated the front of Fiat cars from 1931 to 1968, with the vertically elongated letters of the word 'FIAT' standing out against a ruby red background, encased in a chromed round frame.
Fiat is keen to revamp its image and the improvements in styling - particularly with the recent Grande Punto and now with the Bravo - is aimed at attracting more image conscious young motorists. This will be further enhanced by the revival of the Fiat 500 supermini next year.
For the launch of the 500, Fiat has brought back Lapo Elkann, the Agnelli heir and former Fiat marketing executive who suffered a drug overdose a year ago.
The return of Mr Elkann might be seen as a gamble by the Italian industrial group. His notorious exploits last year, in which he almost died after a night out with some of northern Italy's more colourful characters, generated a lot of bad publicity for the company founded by his ancestors. John Elkann, his brother, is vice-chairman of Fiat.
But Lapo Elkann, recognised as an immaculate dresser and trendsetter by magazines such as Vanity Fair, had also had considerable success in rekindling a youthful and sexy image for a company which had lost its way.
Mr Elkann pushed innovative clothing and accessories lines and played a large part in the run-up to the successful relaunch of the Punto last year.
Now the company needs to build on the momentum from the Punto, and is hoping for success from its new Bravo car in January and the Cinquecento later in the year.
The company has not commented on the marketing strategy. However, people close to the plans said Mr Elkann was not officially rejoining the company but heading an outside team working on some of the most eye-catching projects. He is for now still based in New York and co-ordinating efforts with the Fiat marketing department.
Marketing strategists have been discussing the 500 for months. Last week they discussed projects such as placement of the car in films, video games and fashion events. At least one large event will be planned monthly from January.
Fiat is hoping that the 500, championed by Mr Elkann while he was still in the company, can have as dramatic and as successful a return as BMW's new Mini.
The tiny Italian car was a favourite of Hollywood films in the 1950s and part of the iconography of Italian cool. It went out of production in 1972 although a newer version was made from 1991-96.
Fiat has financially sailed very close to the wind in recent years, but internationally at least seems to be returning to better days.
The carmaker is now in profit and sales of Fiat cars have bucked the European downward trend by jumping almost 20 per cent in the first nine months of this year.
One frustrating feature at Fiat has been that despite a history of strong investment in research and development - resulting in several landmark engineering innovations now standard features across the industry - this has been largely ignored by the public, who instead focus on reliability and design issues.
Now Fiat is keen to play up its R&D heritage alongside strong design. Expect to see a lot more emphasis on technology alongside the sharper styling.
