Hallelujah! The first child born of the Fiat-Chrysler marriage arrives in just 18 months when the Italian automaker brings the awesome 500 to the United States.

Better yet, Fiat has no plans to significantly change the sweet microcar before rolling it into Chrysler showrooms. The way Fiat sees it, the 500 - which perfectly updates the adorable Cinquecento - could take a big bite out of the market Mini has carved for retrocars.

"The Fiat 500 – we see that, like the Mini, as a sort of a boutique car that we think we can sell in good numbers on the East and West coasts in the same way that Mini has been successful in the U.S.," Fiat spokesman Richard Gadeselli told Automotive News (sub. req.).

The 500 is the only Fiat-badged vehicle slated for the United States, Gadeselli said. Everything else will sport a Chrysler nameplate on the hood. "They will be Chrysler products," he said. "They will be specific to Chrysler. The vehicle architectures will be based on our stuff, and there will be some powertrains. The vehicles will be U.S. vehicles, designed for U.S. customers by a U.S. company."

Yeah, yeah. Now bring us the Abarth 500, please.

Photo: Fiat