The last time you could get a new Fiat in America was the time when Michael Jackson's Thriller music video played endlessly on MTV, cellphones were just launched, and Ronald Reagan railed at the Soviets while giving out jelly beans from the Oval Office.

The stylish small cars of Italy went missing from the American landscape twenty seven years ago. It got victimized for low gas prices, growing Asian brand sales and a reputation for vehicle breakdowns. Few expected Fiat to return.

Nevertheless it's back. Fiat Automotive, in this month will sell a Fiat-brand car once more. It is the small, retro-styled Fiat 500 coupe. The model had been a hit in Europe since its launch in 2007. Fiat-controlled Chrysler will monitor sales of Fiats in America.

In overseeing the Detroit automaker's bankruptcy a couple of years ago, the government gave Fiat control in exchange for supplying technology and small-car products Chrysler needs as the Obama administration's 2016 gas mileage directive take hold. Chrysler's array was among the lowest in average gas mileage in 2010 among big makers. The 500, a signature model of Fiat will start testing that strategy.

The objective is to slowly and steadily re-establish Fiat in America over several years. Though the 500 is cute and attention-grabbing, Fiat does not want the model to be established as a trend.

They need to unite themselves into American culture, said the executive of head Fiat-brand marketing in the U. S., Laura Soave, at a San Diego press event for the 2012 Fiat 500.

To do that, Fiat plans to present itself as a provider of sophisticated European design, Soave stated.