FIAT Ditches Grey Cars and Launches ‘Smiles Per Hour’ to Focus on Driving Happiness
By Lifestyle Correspondent
FIAT is putting happiness and colour at the centre of its brand identity after unveiling a new “Smiles Per Hour” driving metric while continuing its headline-making decision to stop producing grey cars.
The Italian manufacturer says the new science-backed SPH system is designed to measure genuine driving enjoyment by analysing emotional reactions rather than relying solely on traditional performance figures such as acceleration times.
The metric debuts on the new Fiat Grande Panda and forms part of FIAT’s wider “Dolce Vita” philosophy focused on optimism, personality and making everyday driving more enjoyable.
The company previously announced it would stop producing grey vehicles altogether in a move aimed at embracing brighter colours and reflecting what it describes as the vibrancy of Italian culture and lifestyle.
Now, FIAT says it wants to change the way people think about cars by focusing less on speed statistics and more on how drivers actually feel behind the wheel.
The SPH system was developed alongside cognitive scientist Dr Duncan Williams using facial-recognition technology built on Google AI’s MediaPipe framework.
During the study, 30 participants completed real-world drives in the Grande Panda while software tracked subtle facial movements linked to smiling and emotional response.
Across the sessions, the car recorded an average score of 258.1 Smiles Per Hour, with female participants recording higher scores on average than male drivers.
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Researchers monitored 468 facial landmarks at 60 frames per second, capturing around 1.7 million data points in total to identify genuine subconscious smiles rather than posed reactions.
Drivers’ faces were first calibrated to a neutral expression before the software measured changes linked to the zygomaticus major muscle — the muscle primarily responsible for smiling.
FIAT says the technology was designed to measure authentic emotional responses in real driving conditions rather than relying on self-reported opinions.
The company pointed to new research suggesting that 81 per cent of UK drivers do not know the 0-60mph time of their own vehicle, arguing that performance figures are becoming less relevant to many motorists.
Kris Cholmondeley, Managing Director of FIAT UK, said the company wanted to offer customers a different way of understanding the driving experience.
He said FIAT has never been purely about performance numbers, but about creating cars that make people feel good.
The SPH initiative is expected to be rolled out across other FIAT models later this year as the brand continues to position itself around positivity, wellbeing and colourful Italian-inspired design.
