Fiat has almost finalised the design of the Multiplina, its four-seat microcar – but it must shed weight before it can go on sale.
The new urban runabout made a surprise appearance at the Paris motor show, having previously been previewed in a single picture earlier this year.
Its styling has evolved since that image was first published, and Fiat's head of design, François Leboine, told Autocar that it's now "close to production".
Due on sale in 2028, the Multiplina is not a traditional car but instead a quadricycle, meaning it follows a different ruleset to be homologated for road use.
It's based on the Citroën Ami and Fiat Topolino, which sit in the L6e class so are restricted to 8bhp and a 28mph top speed. The Multiplina is being developed for L7e, which raises those limits to 20bhp and 56mph.
The L7e regulations allow a maximum weight “in running order” of just 450kg, which is an increase of only 25kg compared with L6e.
The Multiplina is essentially a stretched Ami, which already weighs a claimed 417kg. The addition of two more seats, more metal in its structure and a larger battery – for a longer range than the Ami's 46 miles – tips it over the allowed 450kg.
Leboine said: “The problem is the weight. L7 is still 450kg maximum. If you start from a Topolino, you add two people and you extend the chassis, you immediately increase the weight in every dimension. You quickly pass the limit.
“The exercise is to reduce weight: to find tricks and ideas to get rid of weight everywhere. It’s a bit like in a race car – and it's funny, because it's got nothing to do with racing. It's the same approach. If you can make a hole in a piece, you make a hole. It's really about reducing, reducing, reducing.”
Former Fiat boss Olivier François said recently that the Multiplina would “be super-important for us, because it's really the missing link between Topolino and the traditional city car”.
To that end, it will slot into the Italian brand's line-up between the Topolino and the 500.
The Multiplina concept takes its name from the 600 Multipla of 1956, which Fiat called the “original people mover”, but the firm also noted that it has a similar footprint to the 500 of 1957.
