Automotive News Europe — 2024-02-26
Automotive Industry
Fiat announces new vehicles based on Stellantis's Smart Car low-cost small car platform.
Fiat is abandoning the minicar segment as it renews its lineup with larger cars that will be sold with combustion engines and all-electric drivetrains.
Fiat will launch four new vehicles in four years in a “new global game” for the brand, CEO Oliver Francois said in a video released by the company.
The new models will share a common global platform from Fiat parent Stellantis. They will be offered with battery-electric, hybrid and combustion engine powertrains.
The first new model will be a successor to the Panda minicar. It will be bigger than the current Panda – “a sort of Mega-Panda,” Francois said.
Fiat revealed a concept for the car that has design cues from the oval test track of the former Lingotto factory in Turin.
“The high driving position and robust design make this city car the perfect ally for customers all over the world, especially in crowded urban environments,” Francois said.
The second of the four vehicles will be a pickup. The Fiat Strada pickup is the bestselling vehicle on the Brazilian market. The concept for the new model blends the concept of a pickup with the functionality of an LCV and the comfort of a SUV in a size that is suitable to urban environments all over the world, Fiat said in a statement. Fiat “is certain that this type of vehicle can replicate its success at a global level, even in Europe,” the statement added.
The third model is a “fastback” car that will follow in the footsteps of two of the brand’s biggest hits—the Fiat Fastback in Brazil and the Fiat Tipo in the Middle East and Africa. The Fastback coupe-styled SUV is sold only in South America. Francois said the new car could be a global car for Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and even Europe, Fiat said.
The fourth concept is a spacious SUV -- “a sort of Giga-Panda” – targeted at families, Fiat said. The SUV will most likely compete against the Dacia Duster in the increasingly popular small SUV segment.
François also showed a fifth concept vehicle, a camper van on the same platform.
All the new vehicles will be based on Stellantis’s Smart Car low-cost small car platform that underpins the recently launched Citroen e-C3 small electric car.
The Panda successor will be built in the Stellantis plant in Kragujevac, Serbia. It will not immediately replace the current Panda minicar, which will remain in production until at least 2026 in the Pomigliano d’Arco plant in Italy.
Production of the Fiat New 500 small EV in Mirafiori, Turin, will end late 2026.
The New 500’s replacement will move to Stellantis's STLA Small architecture and it will be built at a yet-to-be chosen factory in Europe.
The fact that the new Panda will be a small-segment car marks the exit of the Fiat brand from the European minicar segment which it currently dominates with the Panda, the 500 and the New 500.
According to Dataforce market researchers, last year Fiat models were the two most popular in the segment.
Fiat sold 125,834 units of the Panda, mostly in Italy, and 104,590 units of the 500 mild-hybrid. The brand also sold 62,643 New 500 cars. Fiat’s overall market share in the segment was 42%, down 1% from 2022.
The Panda successor will be unveiled on 11 July, the 125th anniversary of the foundation of Fiat. The other models will follow, one every year until 2027.