Fiat auctions special edition car via Twitter

Fiat hosts TwitBid auction for a special-edition Fiat 500. The winning bid was??15,200.?

By Joel Feder,?Guest blogger / May 20, 2012

An employee walks past a Fiat 500 at a dealership in Vienna, Va., in this April file photo. Italian carmaker Fiat beat analysts' forecasts for first quarter earnings as its U.S. unit Chrysler Group LLC posted its best quarterly profit since its 2009 bankruptcy, once again compensating for declining sales in Europe.

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters/File

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Automakers using social media is nothing new, as many automakers have used different social platforms to?unveil new vehicles, run contests, and even?live-stream events. But running a public auction of a special-edition car on Twitter? That's a new one, and?Fiat?has just claimed the title as the first automaker to sell a new car online using Twitter as an auction platform.

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The promotion was called TwitBid, and it was a public auction held by Fiat on Twitter. The auction was for a special-edition?Fiat 500?called the Fiat500?America. From March 1 to March 15, people could place a bid by simply tweeting a "twit-offer" which includes how much your bid for the car is. In the 15 days, over 700 "twit-bids" came in from over 293 users in 11 countries with a total of 787 tweets being registered during the promotion.

The winning "twit-bid" belonged to a Adelheid D. Keiper, a German Twitter user with the nickname @KanzleiKieper. The winning bid was for 15.165 euros, and won the "number one car" of the limited-edition?Fiat?500?America.

We congratulate Adelheid on winning the first Fiat 500 America, and commend Fiat for running this unique promotion. In the words of Jean Girard from?Talladega Nights, "You taste of America."

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