Fiat will bring the most affordable version of the new Grande Panda, fitted with a pure-petrol engine and a manual gearbox, to the UK.
The powertrain comprises a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine that sends 99bhp and 151lb ft of torque to the front wheels via a six-speed shifter.
Fiat UK’s managing director, Kris Cholmondeley, told Autocar that it will be priced at “an even lower, better price point” than the £18,995 hybrid.
In its native Italy, the pure-petrol Grande Panda is €2000 (£1700) cheaper than the hybrid, suggesting that it could arrive in the UK at around £17,000. That would make it one of the nation's cheapest new cars.
Fiat UK has yet to confirm when the model will go on sale but, given the hybrid and electric versions have been delayed until March, it's unlikely to land in showrooms until much later this year.
When it arrives, it will join a petrol manual version of the larger Fiat 600 crossover. This is due in the third quarter of the year, alongside the new petrol manual Fiat 500 Hybrid.
Cholmondeley said the addition of several more affordable, petrol manual models “screams everything about Fiat: value, style, the way it makes you feel”.
“We haven’t had enough petrol manuals in cars [in recent years],” he continued. “It’s a massive part of the segment, and that is definitely coming.”
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Nice one Fiat Might give the Dacia Sandero a run for its money, especially at a time when simple affordable petrol cars seem to be on the decline (just heard that the Hyundai i10 is the latest to bite the dust). The only concern with the new Panda is the long term durability of the Puretech wet belt engine - and Fiat UKs ability to sell and maintain the thing...
sounds very appealing
Should sell well not every wants a hybrid or an automatic transmission, it gives FIAT an entry level that the range that it really needs