Fiat Panda family expansion: five new concepts through to 2027

After years of expanding the 500 family, Fiat is now turning its focus towards growing the Panda range. It is a plan the brand has held since the previous decade, yet one that had never come to fruition - until now.

Fiat’s own “boss”, Olivier François, offered a preview of the new model family. Taking a more humorous approach, François did not unveil the five concepts in Geneva, Switzerland, where the motor show opens today, but in… Ginevra, Italy.

What is more, Ginevra had no venue large enough to display all the new arrivals. That was no obstacle, however: Olivier François went to a neighbourhood café to present Fiat’s future.

It is there that we encounter the next Panda generation and every new member of this family, with one being revealed each year until 2027.

Although they vary in shape and size, they share more than global ambitions - all will use the same platform and be sold in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They will also uphold the same values of practicality, modularity and, naturally, affordability. All of this follows the example set by the original Fiat Panda, Giorgetto Giugiaro’s masterful 1980 creation.

The underlying architecture is the Smart Car Platform, first used by the Citroën ë-C3. Like Stellantis’s other platforms, it is multi-energy, meaning it can accommodate fully electric, hybrid and combustion-only powertrains.

The next Fiat Panda

There will not be a long wait to see the first vehicle in this new model family. Fiat will reveal a new Panda generation next July, coinciding with the company’s 125th anniversary.

Perhaps the biggest change is the Panda’s move from city car to supermini. Fiat has even given it the nickname… Mega-Panda. It will measure around 4.0 m long - with dimensions similar to those of the 600 - while retaining a spirit close to that of the original Panda.

The concept previewing it is also surprising, as it differs considerably from the car shown in patent filings a few weeks ago. If this is confirmed, what exactly is the model depicted in those patent images?

This latest concept reveals a crossover whose shapes and features are much closer to those of the original 1980 Fiat Panda. Its overall appearance is considerably more “square”, while the front end stands out by recalling the original through a reinterpretation featuring a light panel made up of countless pixels.

The concept’s cabin is even more radical than its exterior. Most notable is the oval motif, reflecting the shape of the former Lingotto factory in Turin - now the manufacturer’s headquarters - which is famous for the test track on its roof.

New Strada, new Tipo and even a kind of motorhome

Fiat enjoyed a very positive 2023, selling 1.3 million vehicles and becoming Stellantis’s best-selling brand. Its strong position in South America made a major contribution to that result.

In Brazil, the Strada pick-up - remember it? - was the market’s best-selling model, and Fiat is using this batch of concepts to preview its next generation.

The news, confirmed by Olivier François himself, is that the Strada could return to Europe as well as remaining in South America. The technical convergence of this model family allows it to be marketed across several continents.

That prospect becomes more convincing when we see that the next two concepts appear to be little more than derivatives of the pick-up. From the B-pillar forwards, they are essentially the same vehicle, with only the rear body section changing.

The first is therefore a fastback, with a two-and-a-half-box profile, previewing the successor to the four-door Tipo and Brazil’s Fastback. It is a model of particular significance in Turkey, where it leads the market and is known not as the Tipo but as the Egea.

The other concept is an SUV - dubbed the Giga-Panda by the brand - which will allow Fiat to fill a long-standing gap in the compact family SUV segment, where it currently has no offering.

Last, but certainly not least, comes a kind of SUV combined with a motorhome - “the ultimate all-purpose vehicle”, in Fiat’s words. The Italian manufacturer says it pays tribute to the “Fun-ctionality” concept - combining the words “fun” and “functionality” - that inspired the first Panda.

Given its apparent size, it would not be surprising if it led to a three-row model, as will happen with the new Citroën C3 Aircross and Opel Frontera. These Fiat models will be cousins to them, using the same technical base.

How close are these concepts to reality? Their presentation is clearly that of concept cars, but they reveal the key design cues that will define their respective production models. As stated at the outset, all of them will result in production vehicles: one every year, through to 2027.