The Fiat 500 arrives in Poland

The Fiat 500, a premium-market car from its Italian namesake, became available on the Polish market last week.

The car, manufactured in the Polish city of Tychy, has proven a success in Western Europe. It was named Car of the Year 2008 - a title awarded by a jury of journalists from seven auto-related publications from around Europe. The number of orders at the end of November reached 105,000 units since first appearing in summer this year, according to Rzeczpospolita. Still, Polish distributors are less certain of the car's chances for local success. The debut marks the first time Fiat will introduce a premium model to the Polish market.

"We will be watching the situation closely," Fiat Auto Poland's spokesperson, Bogusław Cieślar, told WBJ. "We are counting on up to 3,000 units sold per year."

To target the more price-conscious consumer, Fiat has lowered the price of the most basic version of the Fiat 500 in Poland to zł.34,500 - the cheapest available in Europe. However, it is the more expensive models which will sell best in Poland, according to Piotr Burchard, the head of the news desk at Auto Świat, a leading automotive magazine.

"Fiat is targeting the market from both sides, the low price and the premium one ... still, offering a low-price version is purely a marketing tool," he told WBJ, explaining that cars such as the 500 - small and luxurious - are generally chosen by better-off customers.

Challenges may arise in the marketing of the car in Poland. While the car is branded as the continuation of the legendary 1950's Fiat 500 model in the West, in Poland such connotations will be unclear. The Fiat 500 of the 1950s was hardly known in Poland, said Auto Świat's Burchard.

Still, Burchard predicts the car will sell well in Poland, since Fiat's reputation in the country has improved, mainly thanks to the popular Fiat Panda.