Fiat car manual advises male drivers to put women with 'nice legs' on backseat

Italian car manufacturing giant Fiat has withdrawn instruction manuals issued to customers after they told male drivers to put women with ‘nice legs’ in the back to avoid distraction.

The company received enormous criticism on social media after issuing the booklets in Italy and Argentina. It responded on Twitter by confirming the withdrawal and blaming it on a marketing gag rather than an intention to offend.

The booklet said: "If a lady's skirt is too short, we recommend that she travel in the backseat to keep our concentration… If the skirt is not that short but you tend to have a wandering hand, she should also travel behind."

It further instructed men to chauffer friends of their spouses: “Behave like a gentleman, you should know that if your partner, girlfriend or squeeze travels with friends, you should become the chauffeur for each and every one of them, taking the spot of the alpha male and dropping each one of them safe and sound at their resting place."

It is not the only recent gaffe made by the company of late. Last week it had to recall all of its 500e models due to a software glitch. 

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