Fiat Ireland has high hopes for its new Grande Panda which has just gone on the market. It sees it as the car to boost a renewed push for a turnaround in the Italian brand’s fortunes.
The new Grande Panda comes with full-electric and mild-hybrid variants and costs from €22,995 for the full EV; and from €25,800 for the mild hybrid.
The compact B-segment crossover/hatchback in which the Granda Panda resides, is a price-sensitive category. So it will be interesting to see how it fares against rivals such as the Renault 5 E-Tech, Citroen e-C3, Dacia Spring, Leapmotor T03, Suzuki Ignis and Toyota Aygo X. Hybrid rivals would include the MG3 and Nissan Juke hybrid.
I understand Fiat Ireland is hoping to get up to 350 buyers into a Grande Panda this year. And – again I understand – it expects many more than that will be bought over the full 12 months of next year.
The Grande Panda electric version comes in three trim levels: Pop, Icon and La Prima. The Icon trim level has the option of adding two packs, Tech and Style, while the La Prima version can also be equipped with a Winter Pack.
Both the Icon and La Prima EVs have the 7kW on-board front spiral cable for easy charging. Fiat claims an electric range of up to 320km from the 44 kWh LFP battery.
The 1.2 litre hybrid version comes in Icon and La Prima trim. The new-generation T-Gen3 engine for the hybrid is a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder turbo which can give you up to 110 hp.
The Grande Panda will be the official vehicle for Team Ireland as part of a four-year partnership with Fiat. Under the agreement, a dedicated fleet of Fiat vehicles will be made available to athletes and sporting national governing bodies.
Brand ambassadors Kate O’Connor and Thomas Barr will be driving the new Grande Panda.
Pictured with the new Fiat Grande Panda are Kate O’Connor, olympian, heptathlete and Fiat ambassador, and John Saunders, managing director at Fiat Ireland.