Fiat has officially revealed its new Grande Panda as a 125th birthday present to itself in the form of a new baby SUV that kickstarts a stylish new family of ‘Panda’ budget models due in the future.
No longer a city car with limited appeal outside of its home country, the new-generation Panda is described as a ‘global’ model that uses the platform from the new Citroen C3 to open the car up to a wider audience. Like its French cousin, it will also be available as both a hybrid and an electric car.
Revealed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the founding of Fiat, the Grande Panda is the first in a new line-up of Panda bodystyles as the Italian firm aims to create a new sub-brand, similar to what it did with the iconic 500 range.
Cool design inside and out
The Fiat Grande Panda uses many design cues first previewed by concepts revealed the day before the 2024 Geneva motor show, with a boxy and chunky look. The production version is daringly styled, but also should appeal to fans of the original broundbreaking car, launched here in 1981.
It’s clearly linked to the new Citroen C3. Under the skin, it shares that car’s low-cost STLA Smart underpinnings and, it’s similarly boxy in profile. It also gets chunky wheelarches and pixelated headlights that do a great job of allowing it to stand out from the crowd.
Roof rails add to its rugged SUV-like attitude, while a new black panel at the front incorporates the new Fiat logo.
Spacious interior for such a small car
Like the Citroen e-C3, Fiat has aimed to create the most interior space from its modest external dimensions. At a little under four metres long, it’s noticeably bigger than the outgoing Panda city car, but no longer than plenty of rival small cars .
Fiat says there are 13 litres of storage in the dashboard alone, with a similar ‘pocket’ dash to the original Panda. The 361-litre boot is also noticeably bigger than that of a C3 and the passenger compartment is said to be able to ‘comfortably transport five people’
Range and charging… and integrated cable
If you get sick of carrying around charging cables with you (which we do!), clogging up the boot, Fiat has the answer with an integrated charging cable, which is something we’ve been wishing for since the first EVs appeared.
It’s the first mass-produced vehicle to have such a feature, with the long spiral charging cable tidying up the charging process, and quickly connects to 7kW charging units. There is a separate rapid charging port on the usual rear three-quarter panel.
Hybrid and EV power units
The new Grande Panda will be available as both a hybrid and electric version, with no mention of the cheaper petrol engine available on the Citroen C3. Full details of the entire range will be released later.
The electric model will use a 112hp motor paired to a 44kWh battery, with Fiat promising a claimed 195-mile driving range – a litle shy of the larger battery 500e, and likely to deliver 150 miles in real world driving.
The hybrid model will be a 1.2-litre mild-hybrid producing around 100hp, and paired to an automatic gearbox. Other European countries will receive a cheaper 1.2-litre petrol engine paired with a manual transmission.
What this means for you
The Grande Panda is an exciting addition to the shrinking ranks of affordable city cars currently on sale. It offers space, value and stand-out styling for a modest cash price – let’s hope the monthly payments wil be equally modest.
So, how much will it be? Prices for the Grande Panda will start at ‘less than £20,000’ for the hybrid and ‘less than £22,000’ for the EV, according to Fiat. That puts it in the same market as the Dacia Sandero Stepway, Suzuki Swift and MG3 Hybrid. Let’s hope it’s good.
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