General Panda XL?

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General Panda XL?

Getting a bit carried away with all this L and XL stuff aren't they. Smacks of desperation trading off the Panda name. Give us a hot Panda or maybe resurrect the Topolina project. How many - hate the word - "lifestyle" vehicles does the planet need.
 
mashinomania.jpg
 
I had read that it was being thought of, but I think the suggestion in the article that it's only months away is way off the mark.

It basically sounds the same as the 500X how the article describes it. At first I wondered if it meant Fiat would drop the 500X idea and just have a 500L & XL and then have a Panda SUV built alongside the new small Jeep model, but this suggests they're to have all 3.

Interesting, but I'd imagine the 500X, small Jeep, Alfa 159 replacement, and Maserati Levante SUV will all arrive before an addition to the Panda line-up. They need to focus on Alfa first and actually give it a line-up rather than keep poncing around with Fiat.
 
I had read that it was being thought of, but I think the suggestion in the article that it's only months away is way off the mark.

It basically sounds the same as the 500X how the article describes it. At first I wondered if it meant Fiat would drop the 500X idea and just have a 500L & XL and then have a Panda SUV built alongside the new small Jeep model, but this suggests they're to have all 3.

Interesting, but I'd imagine the 500X, small Jeep, Alfa 159 replacement, and Maserati Levante SUV will all arrive before an addition to the Panda line-up. They need to focus on Alfa first and actually give it a line-up rather than keep poncing around with Fiat.
couldn't agree more. we have an alfa gt that's totally brilliant but is nearly 7 now and there is nothing planned to replace it. its not missed a beat, never let us down and apart from a broken rear parcel shelf bracket nothing has failed.
We just don't know what to replace it with, it cant be an alfa sadly as they don't have anything.
Waiting for delivery of a Sicilian orange 4x4 now :)
 
I suppose this could be part of a wider strategy to address the widely held (and frequently accurate) perception that Fiat don't make very good large cars. Instead of trying to fix negative customer perceptions with new standalone models, they're expanding and nudging tried and trusted models (500 & Panda) into bigger niches.
 
When BMW introduced the 'fat Mini' I must admit I was not sure they'd shift any. I understand they make up around 30% of sales now...

I can see a point in FIAT trying to make more of its two best cars - the Panda and 500 have considerable brand value and if they can increase sales / margins by pushing the envelope a bit, then good luck to them (y)

BMW have been very good at creating niches and then selling a lot of cars into that niche, so maybe FIAT can do the same? Even the X6 exceeded their original sales projections!!

all IMHO, of course :)
 

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! MY EYES, MY EYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!:eek:

Hope nothing like this ever comes out of FIAT. But then I kind of said that about the 500L, and I don't mind it too much now!

Agree with what jamesbrownontheroad said, so far it looks like a smart move with the 500L as demand has been strong. Something similar could work with the Panda, although (for now at least!) I hope nothing like this one...
 
The first, blue, car in the video is the new Jeep Cherokee, with a Fiat grill.

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2014-jeep-cherokee-0/full/#photo-5761692

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/27/2014-jeep-cherokee-flaunts-its-new-contemporary-curves/

Both cars are photoshops and the red one is a big fail, but then the new Cherokee has met with near universal dislike in the US, even before it goes on sale. And that is built on the 500l's modified platform, like all the others that seem to be on the way.

The video seems not to be by Fiat, even if it pretends to be, and the red Countryman :devil: photoshop has AutoBild's ghosted logo on it.

And I saw a new white Freemont on the road in Norwich just now. Are these even sold here. I'll ask the dealer tomorrow if I have the time? So many mysteries
 
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I don't like the look, and what have they done to the headlights ,it does not look like a panda ,as someone said on this thread more like a Mini countryman

Well I actually prefer it to the 500L, which really isn't meant as praise-
IMHO all these fattened versions of familiar models are as attractive as
the obese persons making up a large portion of the UK population :rolleyes:
(sorry if this upsets the PC Police :eek: )

Perhaps Fiat will call it the Giant Panda :D



Chris
 
They need a pretty, clever and inexpensive small sports coupe, with great handling and rear wheel drive. Something aspirational. Light, technical, nippy and captivating. Just to prove that they still can ;)

Leaving it all to the ghost of Alfa isn't working.
 
They need a pretty, clever and inexpensive small sports coupe, with great handling and rear wheel drive. Something aspirational. Light, technical, nippy and captivating. Just to prove that they still can ;)

Leaving it all to the ghost of Alfa isn't working.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but i'd genuinely like to know when FIAT last made one of those - would this not actually be a precedent for the company - and a damn good one too if they did!

A mate of mine has a 4C on order, but they are not what you'd call inexpensive...
 
The back of the red car in the video looks pretty nice, but the side is near identical to the 500L, which is no good at all.

I think a better idea would've been tweaking the design of the 500L and having it as a giant Panda, then doing the 500X as the big 500 variant, as the 500X actually looks a bit like a 500 whereas the 500L is quite Panda-esque from the side & could've been tweaked to look like a big Panda more successfully than a 500. Too late now though. (n)

Dunno why the USA doesn't like the new Cherokee. I reckon it looks ace - a whiff of Kia Sportage about it at the back. Very nice :slayer:
 
Please don't take this the wrong way, but i'd genuinely like to know when FIAT last made one of those - would this not actually be a precedent for the company - and a damn good one too if they did!

I meant make a car that people look at and say, 'I'd love one of those'. I know the 500 has that a bit, but ...

The Fiat Coupe and the Barchetta were both smart, distinctive and very noticeable cars, and nothing has replaced either of them.

Worthy and sensible cars are all very good, but now that the sun is out cars are washed and polished and noticing on the roads again, and there isn't much distinctive out there at all.

As an aside, and thinking about dullsville cars, I was out in an Audi yesterday. Haven't a clue which one it was as they all look the same to me, a mid-size saloon. What a revelation that was; no more comfortable than my Doblo, on any level, and far harder to get out of. I really don't get it with these expensive cars. It felt very like being in a Nissan Note actually.
 
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