Third-generation Fiat Panda readies for grand première at Frankfurt
AIMING TO BENEFIT FROM THE immensely growing small car market, Italian car-makers FIAT are gearing up for an international première of the third generation of their popular small car, the Panda, at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2011.
The third-generation Panda follows the 1980 Giugiaro template and uses FIAT’s small car platform related to Ypsilon and 500. The car is now less box-like with swollen wheel-arches, which give it a rugged off-roader look. The new Panda would be 10 centimetres longer and more spacious than the current variant, but would still retain its third side window, a characteristic Panda cue. The new Panda would come with four new engine options: 900-cc TwinAir in 66 PS and 86 PS variants, 1.2-litre four-cylinder 70 PS engine and a 1.3-litre Multijet diesel 96 PS engine. The 4X4 variant of the car will be launched by the end of 2012 too.
The car would be up for sale in the international market by next spring and would appear in the Indian market by the time of Auto Expo 2012. In the Indian small car market, the Panda would be a segment lower than the Grande Punto and would stand in competition with the Maruti Suzuki WagonR, Chevrolet Spark and Hyundai Santro Xing.
