Orders should be ready about two weeks after you pull the trigger, Fiat says.

This is clearly a competitive move on Fiat's part. While its sales were turning a corner before this (it swung from a loss in Q3 2015 to a profit this year), incentivized online sales could help it keep that edge. You might be more likely to buy a 500 if you can order it from home and get a better bargain. Just don't expect to see dealerships cut entirely out of the loop in the near future. As Tesla learned first-hand, dealers routinely fight attempts to introduce direct sales -- Amazon can get close to that business model, but it faces a backlash if it makes dealerships obsolete.