Gray might be one of the most popular color options for cars, but Fiat decided to stop offering the option in favor of more colorful alternatives. The upcoming fully electric 600e – set to debut on July 4 – will be one of the stars of the new campaign, which explains why it got color-dipped in a huge bucket with Fiat’s CEO sitting behind the wheel.
Fiat wants the absence of gray to become a “distinctive feature of Fiat’s cars in the automotive market” and make it “the brand of colors” coming from the “land of colors”. In that context, the shades of Fiat’s current and future models are inspired by the sea, sun, earth, and sky of Italy. Examples that are already available on the 500e, 500 Hybrid, 500X, Panda, and Tipo, include the Gelato white, Sicilia orange, Paprika orange, Passione red, Blu Dipinto di Blu, Italia blue, Venezia blue, Rugiada green, Foresta green, Rose gold and Cinema black, all referencing Fiat’s country of origin.
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The decision to stop offering the color gray also offers an explanation for the unconventional car-dipping stunt that took place in the Italian city of Lerici, during the summer solstice of June 21. The official video titled “Operation No Grey”, shows CEO Olivier Francois explaining why Fiat took this decision, before jumping into the huge bucket of orange paint inside a silver Fiat 600e.
Francois criticized German, Japanese, and French automakers for sticking with gray while walking by two silver-painted SUVs – namely a first-gen Nissan Qashqai and a Stellantis-sourced DS 3. The Fiat CEO admitted that gray is “an easy sell” as it has proven to be quite popular with buyers. Still, he makes a point that Italy is different from all those countries, something that is backed up by the beautiful scenery and the Hollywood-esque color-grading of the video.
In addition, we also got a date for the official reveal of the all-new Fiat 600e: July 4. Besides coinciding with Independence Day, this date also has a historic significance to the Fiat 500 as the original debuted on July 4, 1957, and its modern reincarnation followed in 2007.
