Cars have badges to show what they are. They are the marketing tools, meant to showcase the capabilities of their manufacturers.
It's very common for cars to have badges at the front and the back, as well as the sides. Many manufacturers have also put even more badges in the interior of their cars. The same goes for decals. But usually, the logos or the brands that are put on the bodies of the cars, are from tuning companies.
It's safe to say that no road cars have officially used a tech company's logo as badges and decals before, until Fiat steps in.
Three special edition of Fiat 500s — the Fiat 500, 500X crossover, and 500L MPV — have been branded with Google badges and decals that extend from using the tech giant’s corporate colors in the cars’ seat upholstery to placing “Hey Google” badges above their front wheel arches.
Third-party branding inside a car is not unusual, but this is like the first time that a car company is putting a tech company's logo on their cars to this extent.
The partnership highlights the increasing needs of car manufacturers for internet-powered technologies.
With the internet becoming more than common, manufacturers want to make their cars smart. To make this happen, they must go beyond their cars' navigation unit, and connect more parts of their cars to the internet.
And this collaboration between Fiat and Google, is one good example.
Vincenzo Riili, Country Marketing Director at Google Italy, explained in a blog post how Fiat approached Google about working together to integrate its Google Assistant with these special edition Fiat 500s.
To showcase how much Google is investing into this partnership, the Fiat 500s come with Google-branded upholstery and exterior badges, decaled B-pillars to match the Google's company colors, tags on the seats branded with the 'Hey Google' logo, and more.
The Fiat 500s also come with a Google goodie bag, which also includes a Google Hub, a branded tote bag, and a matching key cover.
In a press release from the Italian automaker, the decals demonstrate “where Google technology meets coolness,” and offer “the perfect mix of iconic design, freshness and coolness.”
All three vehicles come with 7-inch touchscreens with Google Assistant built into them. But Fiat goes beyond that by also offering some unique features thanks to integration with Fiat’s Mopar Connect service from Fiat's My Fiat Action.
This effectively allows the car owners to talk to their car.
While driving, for example, they can use their voice for directions, ask for weather updates, or other general information. Owners are also allowed to monitor and control certain aspects of their car, remotely through Google Assistant on their mobile devices.
Among other things, users can also check the car’s fuel level, see whether it is locked or not, turn on the car's emergency lights, find the closest Fiat service station, know where the car is parked, and more.
They can do this also via Google Nest Hub that comes included with the purchase of the car.
Users simply have to say "Hey Google, ask My Fiat..."
Users can also set the car to alert them, when they drive exceeding a certain speed, or when they leave a certain geographic area.
Fiat sells the Google-branded Fiat 500s in 10 European nations, including the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.