CRAFTED WITH CARE

Fiat’s cute crossover 500x Trekking exhibits unexpected quality control, loads of advanced safety equipment at a palatable price

The engine and transmission come from the United States. Much of the trim work — materials and other fit-and-finish pieces — are from Italy. Final assembly of the vehicle, the 2017 Fiat 500x, was in Melfi, a small southern Italian town.

Here is thanking the Fiat workers of Melfi. They did an excellent job.

Everything in the 500x driven for this column is perfectly assembled, put together as if the people who made the thing actually cared about what they were doing.

The Melfi people did it right. The 500x, a close mechanical cousin of the very popular Jeep Renegade, which is produced in the same plant, feels like a vehicle I’d want to keep.

Besides being well made, it is well equipped, replete with a full suite of advanced electronic safety equipment — lane departure warning, forward collision mitigation, rear backup camera.

Included were onboard navigation, blindspot warning and automatic high-beam control. I care about those things. They are important. Although many of those items on the 500x front-wheel-drive Trekking trim version used for this column are sold as options, the overall final transaction price is reasonably agreeable — $28,410.

A humble message to automobile manufacturers, especially to those luxury manufacturers who market “prestige” as much as they do horsepower: Your world, our world, is changing. Technology is at the forefront. The company that can provide the most technology — and quality and reliability — at the lowest price wins. The Melfi workers apparently understand that.

There are three trim levels for the 2017 500x — base Pop, popularly equipped Trekking, and the fully loaded Lounge. The Trekking, with advanced safety options, has everything you want and need — except speed.

If you are looking for a racer, something with a loud and intimidating exhaust note, look elsewhere. The 500x Trekking will get you where you want and need to go, but it will do it at a civilized pace.

It comes with a 2.4-liter, inline four-cylinder gasoline engine (180 horsepower, 175 pound-feet of torque). The engine strains a bit at 70 miles per hour on the highway. But that usually is as fast as most of us want to go on daily runs.

Handling is acceptable. Just think before you turn. This one rides high and isn’t built for sharp turns on narrow curves.

Still, I like the 500x/Trekking. I appreciate being in a well-made automobile.