At the Geneva Motor Show held at the beginning of the year, the brands of the Stellantis Group did not participate in the exclusive Swiss exhibition due to the high costs of setting up a stand there, but Fiat found a very effective way to make an important announcement in simultaneous.
The automaker held a unique event in the Italian town of Ginevra, a picturesque town in the Brescia area, where the company’s CEO, Olivier François, unveiled a unprecedented series of conceptual vehicles called “Panda Family”, which will give life to a new generation of global models that will be launched between 2024 and 2027.
In the same way that Abarth represents sports Fiats, Panda will do so in the segment of the most accessible products and apparently, the new strategy is to offer the same vehicles in all the markets where it has a presence using the modular platforms that Stellantis has. Precisely, the first of these five vehicles has just seen the light in Europe and will soon go on sale in the Old Continent. Its about Fiat Grande Panda, model that will take some time to be offered in our region (probably manufactured in Brazil) although it would adopt the name “New One” and would be the replacement for the Argo.
In the next years All models of the Panda Family would arrive in our region as a replacement for current Fiat products, representing the new generations of the Pulse SUV, the Fastback crossover, the Strada pick-up and the Dobló utility vehicle..
Metamorphosis of an icon: the new Fiat Uno
The Fiat Panda It was born more than 40 years ago from the pencil of the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and throughout its history, this citycar has had 4×4 versions. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Fiat has used this legendary name to give life to a new family of models. However, the first fruit of this saga has front-wheel drive and little relation to that iconic off-road vehicle.
Times change and now all Fiat models will be mounted on the well-known “STLA Smart” platform that already use several Stellantis models in Europe (an evolution of the CMF applied in Mercosur), sharing the developments and technologies between the different brands that make up this giant of the automotive industry, although each one with its mark.
The new Panda begins a new family of models.
In this experiment of offering the same product with an Italian or French tint, such as the new Lancia Ypsilon and the Peugeot 208, respectively, The Fiat Grande Panda is supposed to be Citroën C3 but much more “tan”.
Designed at the Centro Stile in Turin, the body of the brand new Grande Panda measures almost four meters, that is, it is 35 centimeters longer than that of the last production Panda, and its design incorporates very striking aspects, such as the pixel lighting signature horizontals, octagonal lines that wrap the front grille and the pronounced fenders that highlight its image.
Although the specifications of the production model have not yet been released, as in the European Citroën C3, the Fiat Grande Panda will be offered with internal combustion engines, hybrids and up to 100% electric, and the powers will range between 90 and 135 horses.
Will the Fiat Uno Mercosur be the same as the Grande Panda?
The question is obligatory, because there are qualities and “qualities”… Every time we talk about globalization in the automotive industry, the results at each point of the map are not so equal.
The new Uno would be manufactured in Brazil.
Aesthetically, for example, we could say that a Peugeot 208 manufactured in Argentina largely respects the design standards of its European counterpart, but in terms of quality, mechanical equipment and safety, both distance themselves.
That is why it is interesting what Olivier Francois, CEO of Fiat and Global CMO of Stellantis, said during the recent presentation of what would be the new Fiat Uno in our region: “With the Fiat Grande Panda we are beginning the transition towards global and shared platforms that cover all regions of the world. We are transferring the resulting benefits to our customers. The Fiat Grande Panda is perfect for families and urban mobility in any country: the new model is a true Fiat.”
The replacement of the Argo and Mobi
To corroborate this ruling from the Italian executive we will have to wait until 2026, the year in which the arrival of the Grande Panda to our region is stipulated, converted – almost certainly – into the new Fiat Uno to replace the current Mobi and Argowhich are still sold in Brazil.
The Panda has a new platform.
Here it will also offer hybrid mechanics, in fact Stellantis has already begun to develop them in Brazil and it remains to be seen if the Fiat Uno will incorporate any. 100% electric variant.
By 2027, meanwhile, the brand’s plan is to continue with the generational replacement of all models manufactured in the region.
In 2027 the production version of the SUV of this Panda family (it should replace the Pulse) and in 2028 the same thing would happen with the crossover to renew the Fastback recently launched in Argentina. Later it would be the turn of the new generation of the Strada pick-up and the van, which should be the new Dobló.
It should be noted that within this new family of global models of the Italian brand, there is no successor planned for the Fiat Cronos manufactured in Córdoba. That is why the arrival of the Fiat Uno could also mean the farewell of this compact sedan that became the best-selling model in Argentina during the last four years.
The shadow of doubt that remains regarding what the regional version of the new Uno will finally be like. It happens that for several months the design record of an unpublished Fiat model has been circulating in Brazil, which many media outlets in the neighboring country point to as successor to the Argobut it has little to do in terms of design with the new Grande Panda.
