The Detroit News is reporting that Chrysler has told U.S. Fiat dealers that it is no longer accepting wholesale orders for the 2012 Abarth.
According to company sources, existing orders for the high-performance version of the Fiat 500 already exceed the production capacity of the Toluca, Mexico plant where Fiat 500s and Abarths for the North American market are built.
Positive reviews and perhaps a little influence from Romanian model Catrinel Menghia have created a large demand for the car.
Original projections called for 1,000 Abarths to be built but, when the Abarth went on sale in late April, there were already a thousand customer deposits in dealer hands. Chrysler has tripled the run, maxing out plant capacity, but still can’t meet demand. Some customers who have placed deposits are being informed they will have to wait for the 2013 production run with deliveries scheduled to start in mid-September.
