“We are redoing the bottom part of our range,” he said. “It is Pandina today but also 500. The maturity of the 2CV [concept] is evident, and we will follow exactly the same maturity. We will show it at a good moment.”
Although the first of Fiat’s E-cars will sit within the Panda family, it won’t necessarily take that name. Belloni revealed that Fiat has trademarked the Koala name, in keeping with Fiat’s scheme of naming different models in the Panda range after different bears.
“Koala now belongs to Fiat,” he said. “We have a Koala, a Panda and a Grizzly.” Indeed, he joked that the only bear name Fiat can’t use is Kodiak, because Skoda uses this for its large SUV.
This would clearly distinguish the EV from the combustion-engined Panda, which remains Italy’s best-seller – and the brand has committed to continuing to serve the market for an affordable petrol-powered car.
Speaking to Autocar earlier this year, Fiat Europe boss Gaetano Thorel said: “I need to find a proper answer for my Panda population. We need to find a multi-energy solution.”
Although the new E-car is expected to draw on familiar Panda cues, Belloni ruled out a revival of any previous iterations of the city car, in the same vein as the 2CV. He described it as “a very different approach, not neo-retro”.
