007 will drive a Fiat Panda

The International Herald Tribune reports Italian automaker is investing in product placement. The new Grande Punto will be featured in a new video game and another Fiat car, the Panda, will make an appearance in the next James Bond movie. The move is part of a corporate strategy to improve the brand image and make it more trendy, in order to attract young consumer. Fiat’s leader Lapo Elkann (the grandson of Giovanni Agnelli) who is only 27 years old, has already started selling the brand name on sweaters and shoes, having this way thousand young people advertising “for free” Fiat on the streets.