It hasn't even gone on sale yet and already Fiat is planning an Abarth version of its new 500X crossover. We've seen some rendered images of what this hot CUV could potentially look like, and we smell a Nissan Juke Nismo Vs. 500X Abarth duel in the making here. The news has been for the most part confirmed by CarAdvice, who spoke with Fiat's European design chief, Roberto Giolito. "The 500X is a good body for Abarth," Giolito stated.

"I can say today this is a good item. It's absolutely perfect in terms of drivability, control. The driving seat is perfectly measured to control the car. So the Abarth would be perfect." But don't think Fiat is just going to slap on a few Abarth scorpion badges and call it a day. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Abarth version, according to Giolito, will be recognizable "from far, from a distance very easily. If you mean the differences that are now from the 500 to the 500 Abarth, it will be more visible because the car has more potential to be changed." There's no word on when the Abarth variant will arrive, but the standard 500X will go on sale sometime in mid-2015.