With more than a century’s worth of history, FIAT is one of the oldest operating automobile manufacturers and a truly global brand which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. FIAT's history is dotted with achievements, records, leadership, and a global reach, with the brand always keeping its customers in mind. On the year of its important anniversary, FIAT is introducing the new Grande Panda and providing its customers all over the world with a new global model which is ideal for families and the contemporary urban environment.
Olivier Francois, FIAT CEO and Stellantis Global CMO, stated: “The best way to celebrate FIAT's 125 years is to start writing the first pages of our future, starting with the new Grande Panda. Designed in Turin, Italy by our Centro Stile, FIAT’s new creation embodies its forerunner’s values. This compact car is based on a global platform, giving the Brand the opportunity to expand its global reach. With the Grande Panda, FIAT now begins its transition to global common platforms that cover all regions of the world, passing on the resulting benefits to its customers worldwide. In fact, the Grande Panda is perfectly suited for families and urban mobility in every country... a real FIAT!”
The Grande Panda is the first new product in the family and will be followed by the launch of a new vehicle every year until 2027. The new set of models has been designed to conquer the streets of the world and complete the brand’s line-up. FIAT’s innovative project is to manufacture vehicles on the same global and multi-energy Smart Car platform, which works in every region of the world, allowing the brand to create many different vehicles and respond to customers’ needs worldwide.
Designed in Italy at the Centro Stile in Turin, the Fiat Grande Panda stands out from the other B-segment vehicles for its unique compactness at just 3.99-meters long — below the 4.06 m segment average — and features clean lines and well-organised space thanks to its compact volume. The new FIAT model can carry five people and is perfect for comfortable family living and contemporary urban mobility. With the objective of conveying strength and uniqueness, the volume appears robust and structured. The wedge-shaped and dynamic design of the body is generated by its pronounced profile lines. The Grande Panda has been conceived to project the Brand into the future with an innovative and smart use of space, a cool personality and novel features.
The new Fiat Grande Panda comes with a special exterior look; a subtle combination of structured lines and soft and bold surfaces that emphasise the robust wheel arches. In addition, the new Fiat Grande Panda’s “Italian personality” becomes immediately apparent through its iconic Italian design which is synonymous with beauty. The compact family mover comes with bright body colors, which will include yellow.
The front features a compact volume with a distinctive new personality. Precise orthogonal lines envelop a progressive square mesh arrangement that creates a strong, sleek look, generating a punctuation of pixels from the center of the glossy black upper grille to the headlights. The presence of a skid plate in the lower central part of the bumper contributes to emphasizing a UV attitude, while the headlamps, made up of opal cubes, reflect the windows on the façades of the Lingotto factory. Moreover, alongside the unique light signature, the Daytime Running Lights (DRL) turn into indicators and illuminate some of the cubes which appear as horizontal pixels arranged in a chessboard pattern.
On the sides, the Fiat Grande Panda’s silhouette calls back to the strength of the Panda from the 80s, with its undisputable, self-confident allure provided by the dynamic passenger compartment and greenhouse. The wedge-shaped attitude of the bodywork and cabin is well-defined and enhanced even more by the sloping roof racks, which move from the top towards the rear end.
In homage to the classic Panda 4x4, the Panda letters are surprising: printed with three dimensional in bas-relief on the doors, they reflect the surrounding environment and animate the lower part of the side.
Furthermore, the unmistakable inclination of the angular ratio with the vertical volume of the rear is reproduced by the robust “C” pillar. To generate a lenticular effect, a black square badge is connected to the graphics of the greenhouse, creating a striking effect in which the four FIAT letters turn into four bars which walk around the vehicle.
The rear features a bold character as well thanks to its prominent wheel arches, the inclination of the windows, the overall layout of the rear window, headlights, and skids which confer the Fiat Grande Panda with a protective and stable appearance and robust ground solidity. The volume is increased thanks to the integration of a glossy black bezel with the three-dimensional letters of Panda—a design homage to the original Panda. Finally, to maintain theme of 80s geometries combined with a futuristic style, the 17" diamond-cut alloy wheels are amplified by a captivating, stylized X design.
With a special and new design language, the Fiat Grande Panda is shaping the future now. It is part of the brand’s quest to provide customers all over the world with a unique car that expresses all its values through its distinctive design.