Fiat Panda family: five new models by 2027

After years upon years of expanding the 500 family, Fiat is now turning its focus to broadening the Panda range. It is something the company has intended to do since the previous decade, but had never managed to bring to fruition - until now.

Fiat’s own “boss”, Olivier François, has offered a preview of the new model family. In a more light-hearted move, François unveiled the five concepts not in Geneva, Switzerland, where the motor show opens its doors today, but in… Ginevra, Italy.

There was no exhibition venue in Ginevra large enough to display every new model, but that posed no obstacle. Olivier François instead visited a neighbourhood café to present Fiat’s future.

It is there that we encounter the next-generation Panda and every new member of this family, each of which will be unveiled at a rate of one per year until 2027.

Although they will differ in size and body style, the models share more than their global reach: all will use the same platform and be sold in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They will also embrace practicality, modularity and, naturally, affordable prices - just as the original Fiat Panda did. That model was Giorgetto Giugiaro’s masterful creation and arrived in 1980.

The platform itself is the Smart Car Platform, first introduced on 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 long to wait before the first model in this new line-up is revealed. Fiat will show the 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 is even prepared to call it the… Mega-Panda. It will be around 4.0 m long - with dimensions similar to those of the 600 - while retaining the spirit of the original Panda.

The concept previewing it is also unexpected, as it differs substantially from the car seen in patent filings a few weeks ago. If this is the production-bound direction, then what exactly is the model shown in those patent documents?

This new concept is a crossover whose forms and details are far closer to those of the original 1980 Fiat Panda. Its overall appearance is much more square-cut, while its front end recalls the original through a new interpretation: an illuminated panel made up of countless pixels.

The concept’s cabin is even more radical than its exterior. Its defining feature is the use of an oval shape, mirroring the outline 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 camper-like model

Fiat enjoyed a particularly strong 2023, selling 1.3 million units and becoming Stellantis’s best-selling brand. Its powerful 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 group of concepts to preview its next generation.

As Olivier François himself said, the key development is that the Strada could return to Europe as well as being sold in South America. The technical convergence of this model family makes it possible to market the pick-up across different continents.

That prospect becomes more convincing when looking at the next two concepts, which appear to be little more than pick-up derivatives. From the B-pillar forwards, they are essentially the same vehicle, with only their rear sections changing.

The first is therefore a fastback, with a two-and-a-half-box silhouette, previewing the successor to the four-door Tipo and Brazil’s Fastback. This model is especially important for Turkey, where it leads the market under the Egea name rather than Tipo.

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, there is a kind of SUV-camper combination - “the ultimate all-purpose vehicle”, in Fiat’s words. The Italian manufacturer says it pays tribute to the “Fun-ctionality” concept - a blend of 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 share the same technical base as their cousins.

How close are these concepts to reality? Their appearance is clearly that of concept cars, but they reveal the guiding lines that will shape their respective production models. As stated at the outset, every one of them will lead to a production vehicle: one per year until 2027.