With this prestigious acknowledgement, the Fiat 500 continues to capture attention and confirms its standing as representing the best of "Made in Italy" because it masterfully combines an innovative and original design with the most advanced technology in the field of engines, safety and on-board comfort. Additionally, with the its 5-star EuroNCAP rating and 40 awards it has won internationally to date, the 500 has proven since its launch in July 2007 that it is not merely a super-compact city car, but an authentic platform upon which Fiat Automobiles is building a whole family of cars with technology and attention to detail worthy of a higher category.

Now at its 12th edition, it is the second time that the Compasso d'Oro ADI award has been given to a Fiat model. In 2004 it was the new Fiat Panda that won the coveted recognition, proof that both models - heirs of two icons of the international automotive industry - express the very best of Italy's manufacturing capabilities combined with a design that has often anticipated future trends in the world of automobiles.

The public will have the chance to admire all of the products that took part in the competition and those published in the 2008-2010 triennial in the ADI Design Index yearbook until 25 September at the Pelanda Museo Macro del Testaccio. The yearbook is the award's preselection, totalling nearly 400 new design objects. Also on display until 25 September at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni is the historic Compasso d'Oro exhibit, with 300 award-winning products from 1954 until today in the various editions of the award. Both exhibits are part of the activities organised to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification.

Established in 1954 and held every three years, the "Compasso d'Oro" resulted from an idea of Gio Ponti and for years was organised by the Rinascente department store to highlight the value and quality of Italian design products as the sector was in its early stages. It was later given to ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale - Industrial Design Association), which since 1964 handles its organisation and supervises its impartiality and integrity.

The almost 300 award-winning projects from more than 50 years of the award's history, together with the almost 2000 selected with Honourable Mention, are gathered and preserved in the historical collection of the "Compasso d'Oro ADI" award, which since 2001 has been entrusted to the ADI Foundation. In 2004 the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage declared the collection "of exceptional artistic and historic interest", and as a result included it among the national heritage.