The new Fiat Panda concept turns out directly with Toytown with Noddy and Big Ears on board, and that is something intelligent if it means that other people are excited about a car in a small city. The original panda designed as a small and cheap of “multiple energy”.
The new era Fiats are described by the firm as “children of the Panda” and the first one, a city car, will be revealed in July to coincide with the brand’s 125 anniversary. But as the concept shows, the firm isn’t looking backwards here: the same platform can be used for the cute city car pictured as well as a pickup truck, a hatchback, an SUV and a camper.
The new pandas use the same platform as the Citroen C3 recent maximum, and will come with 3 other powertrains: pure EV, hybrid EV and petrol power.
It looks like Fiat is hedging its bets here, as EV sales are slowing in most of the world while sales of hybrids have been increasing. Charging remains a key concern around EVs, and while it’s an issue that’s often overhyped by anti-EV voices those voices are likely to be having some effect on sales.
Fiat describes the new car as a “mega panda,” which is older than being said out loud with a trailer voice, and will have to be had all over the world. However, the other models here are all concepts, so we don’t yet know which, if necessary, will make it on the market. It’s very likely that those who do will be a little less futuristic than models with bright sun tones from promotional images.
Fiat is a massive treatment in the global but a much smaller player in the United States, where according to Jalopnik, sold only 605 cars in 2023, and although Panda’s new concepts are undeniably cute, they are probably difficult to sell in a market where where even the greatest cars are becoming larger and more heavy.
However, things are very different in Europe, where small cars are much more popular. There, the Panda continues to sell six figures every year and every year. It is not bad for a car that has been with us since 1980.
Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).