Fiat plans to launch an all-new 500 in 2029 and an all-new Panda in 2030, in a dedication to producing metropolis automobiles in Italy for the foreseeable future.
“The plan for Fiat could be very clear,” Jean-Philippe Imparato, COO for Europe at Fiat father or mother firm Stellantis, informed Autocar on the Brussels motor present.
“The five hundred will probably be accomplished by a hybrid model of [the electric] 500 in November 2025. Second, the subsequent technology of 500 will come round 2029 at Mirafiori [factory in Turin].
“The Pandina [an internal nickname for the Panda] will probably be inbuilt Pomigliano [factory in Naples] till 2030, after which you should have a brand new Pandina at Pomigliano in 2030.
“And you should have the Grande Panda coming in March 2025, each electrical and hybrid variations of it.
“So you should have new 500, new Pandina and Grande Panda within the line-up of the A- and B- phase for Fiat.”
This implies Fiat will proceed to construct the automobiles which have outlined its model for the reason that authentic ‘Topolino’ 500 of 1936, resisting the temptation to desert the city-car class for extra worthwhile crossovers and SUVs that lots of the 500 and Panda’s rivals have succumbed to lately.
Citroën and Peugeot axed the C1 and 108 siblings in 2022 and 2021 respectively; Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda regularly killed off the Up, Mii and Citigo trio between 2020 and 2023; and the Ford Ka+ was pulled from sale in 2019.
There are, nevertheless, inexperienced shoots sprouting: Kia, Hyundai and Toyota all proceed to supply petrol-engined metropolis automobiles (the Picanto, i10 and Aygo X) and Renault will launch a brand new electrical Twingo subsequent 12 months. Chinese language agency BYD can be anticipated to deliver its Seagull EV to the UK.
The five hundred and Panda have been a linchpin for Fiat over the previous decade. Certainly, the Panda stays one of many best-selling new automobiles in Italy, regardless of it having been launched 14 years in the past.
