Fiat has shown a new electric concept which will form the basis of a next-generation Panda. The car isn't appearing at the Geneva Motor Show, which opens this week, but instead, Fiat has decided to have its own mini-motor show in Italy.
The 'Ginerva' motor show
The new car has been shown off by Fiat's boss, Olivier Francois, who launchied the new product strategy - which in part celebrates Fiat's 125th anniversary this year - at a coffee shop in the Italian town of Ginerva (which translates to Geneva...).
The new Panda will be available in both electric and petrol-power forms, and will be built on the same platform as the incoming new Citroen e-C3 and C3, a small car architecture originally conceived for Asian and South American markets, which is being adapted for Europe.
The Concept Panda is very different in style to the previous 'Centoventi' concept car, and takes far more inspiration from the simple, upright look of the original Giugiaro-designed 180s Panda. According to Olivier, the car has been designed with Fiat's iconic roof-top test track at the old Lingotto factory in Turin as an inspiration, forming an oval shape which marks out the lines of the dashboard and some of the exterior trim.
Raised ride height
The new Panda, like the e-C3, won't be a proper SUV but it will be raised up slightly for a slightly 4x4-ish appearance, and again it's taking a great deal of inspiration from the original Panda 4x4, a car which has long since achieved classic and collectable status.
Tiny LED lights are built into the grille at the front, while the new Panda sees the return of the classic four-stripes Fiat badge. There's also a little fold-out storage box in the door, which, in the concept version, opens to reveal a skateboard. There will also be a retractable fabric sunroof for some models. With such options, Fiat says that it wants to put "the fun in functionality."
Inside, the seats and surfaces are made from sustainable materials, including recycled plastics and bamboo fabrics. There's also a neat innovation, which is an EV charging cable built into the car, and which winds up when not in use, rather like the plug on your vacuum cleaner. Fiat says that the car has been designed to "be the perfect ally for customers all over the world, especially in crowded urban environments. But, at the same time, it offers roominess and versatility for family weekend trips and holidays." It's slightly bigger than the current Panda but still compact.
While there are no technical details about the new Panda yet, we can infer from the spec of the Citroen e-C3 and C3 that it will be available in 200km and 300km range electric versions, as well as with petrol and mild-hybrid power. Citroen has been talking about a sub-€20,000 price tag for the C3 (depending on local taxes of course) and it's likely that the Panda will follow suit.
It is far from the only new model in Fiat's plans, however. "Fiat is a global brand with 1.3 million cars sold last year and solid leadership in many parts of the world. We are in a global game and our next step will be to transition from local products to a global offer that can benefit all of our customers everywhere in the world" said Francois. "We are excited to share this glimpse into our future; a very near future, actually, since the first car will be presented in four months during the brand's 125th anniversary celebration. That car will then be followed by one new model every year."
A whole new family
Francois says that the Panda will kick off "A whole new family, its own family." Those will include a boxy-looking pickup, specifically aimed at Fiat's lucrative South American markets but possibly for sale in Europe too. It will be a compact crew-cab model with a relatively small load space but with lots of adaptable features such as sliding roof rack mounts and LED lights, which can be mounted either on the front or the roof, as you please.
The Panda will also spin off into an SUV model, which Francois calls "The Panda Extra-Large" which will copy some of the pick-up's modularity but which will add seven-seat flexibility to become a rival to the likes of the Dacia Jogger and Duster (Citroen is planning a similar vehicle on the same platform). That Extra-Large Panda will also spawn a camper variant, which Francois showed with a folding, inflatable roof tent and even a deployable wind turbine for outback electricity. There will also be a slightly smaller SUV version called the Fastback.
"Under the hood, Fiat will give you the technology that makes sense for you, that is right for your needs - EV, mild-hybrid, other," says Francois. "What I have just shown you is no dream. It's reality, coming to market over the next three years. The first production car will be revealed in July 2024, then another in 2025, another in 2026, and another in 2027.
"Fiat is actively working on a bigger and better future, a future that is rooted in its Italian past, a future made of tradition, of fun, of sustainability and social relevance. There is no going global without being locally relevant."