Panda and Punto could be reborn with electric power; focus on B-segment and crossovers promised.
Fiat will launch two new EVs this year, one of which is expected to be a small SUV badged as the Fiat Panda.
The two models will be part of the major EV push being made by Fiat parent company Stellantis. Its European EV portfolio will increase from 22 currently to 30 this year and 42 by the end of 2024.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares announced the two new Fiats in an earnings call detailing the company’s bumper 2022 profits.
Tavares didn’t reveal the identity of either model, but the one expected to be badged as the Panda is slated to be built alongside the new Jeep Avenger EV at Stellantis’s plant in Tychy, Poland, and use the same eCMP platform.
We have previously asked Fiat’s CEO Olivier Francois directly if Fiat’s new line-up would have two pillars, built on the 500 and the conventions set out by the Centoventi concept – and he replied: “Exactly, you’re right.” He stopped short of confirming any nameplates, but he did suggest that the larger Panda-influenced models could use classic Fiat badges.
“So I’ll do a B-segment [supermini], and then is it going to be a new Punto? Is it going to be a super Panda? I don’t know. We will find out. What is very important, and this is where you have my total commitment, is that obviously at the first glance – even with no badging or branding – you’ll recognise it as a Fiat.”
The second model could be the replacement for the defunct Punto supermini, which Fiat boss Oliver François discussed in an interview last year as he outlined the Italian brand’s revival.
“There will be a big return in the B-segment and crossovers,” he said. “We’re going back to the most relevant segments. We only have the Fiat 500X now. My objective is to have three.”
Two new EVs would revitalise the brand after years of neglect by former owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Two more crossovers are also planned, Francois confirmed last year, with designs heavily influenced by the 2019 Centoventi concept.