By now, many car shoppers - and nearly everyone else who is susceptible to advertisements grabbing their attention - have all noticed that FIAT has made quite the statement in its re-emergence onto the U.S. market.

If you haven't, we're not sure how you've avoided the Super Bowl commercials, the Italian-speaking Romanian model, and the compact cars entering our lots here at Fields FIAT of Highland Park. Nevertheless, now that the Italian automaker has established itself once again, FIAT fans and shoppers are waiting for the next best thing.

So far, Evanston FIAT 500 shoppers have enjoyed finding several models in our inventories, including the 500, 500 Cabriolet, and 500 Abarth. What our sales team members are looking forward to showing off is the upcoming 500 electric and 2013 FIAT 500L. These choices are doing a great job of keeping FIAT fans and shoppers busy - however, that's not good enough. If FIAT wants to keep up and get ahead of the competition, it will undoubtedly need to expand its lineup.

Behold the FIAT 500X - a crossover, four-wheel-drive version of the popular 500. According to CarBuzzard.com, the 500X will be "butched up with extended fenderage" over the wheels in contrasting color, but borrowing headlamps and tail lamps from other 500 models. Basically, onlookers will instantly recognize it as a FIAT.

The FIAT 500X is set to debut at the 2012 Paris Auto Show next month, and is expected to go on sale next year in Europe. When it comes to shoppers here in the U.S., however, no information is available as to when, if at all, to expect its arrival here in dealership lots. All we can do to find out is to simply wait until more details become available. In the meantime, feel free to visit Fields FIAT of Highland Park to discuss details with our friendly sales staff or to test drive one of the models we already have in our inventory.