The new Fiat Pand(in)a

[The Panda Nut]

“20% increase in production due to customer demand” - there we have it! People still love the car. A [lot] of people buying it still. They’ve genuinely addressed the weak spots - safety woes and lack of ‘modern’ technology.

It’s a different approach than most of the other car makers but it seems to work. More power to them!

I still smile every time I pass one on the road! Good times. Long live the Panda.

Sorry.... safety woes??? Who wants all this electronic rubbish. Not me for sure
Lane keeper??? If you are not awake and are too pissed to drive in a straight line you sould not be driving al all. The Panda in the real world is a strong structure capable of rolling and staying intact. Its also acceptably strong in side and head on collisions, and as good in these basic respects as most other cars of a similar size. All this stuff is put on to satisfy N Cap and the euro ******* who instigated the Euro emissions rules and failed to police them. THe emissions and economy scandal of all time. All this extra electronic stuff is not necessary, and of little real world use. What they do however is switch on the warning lights and put the car off the road at MOT time. Its bad enough now. How exactly is this good?
I can't see it.

Ok the extra airbags are a good thing I suppose and CBC being standard is may be good. I have it on mone however and its done nough except scare me to death applying the brakes twice at inappropriate times. Its under consideration for being switched off for good. Im very unconvinced it would work to good effect if needed.

I like many many others who have 4x4 Pandas drive on narrow single track country roads 70% of the time. What *** good is lane keeper to me, and in what way is it a safety feature? Perhaps it will make me steering straight... Oh n,o the roadside ditches do that by making it worthwhile driving on the carriageway like my instructor suggested I should 50 years ago. I am sorry for those that are suckered into thinking this rubbish is so good they should buy a new car to get it. Dont compalin about the price of food, fuel and energy if you want to pay for this stuff. Make it an optioonal pack and let those who cannot drive in a stright line can buy it if they want it. When I cant drive in lane, I shall hand my license back!

If they concentrated on economy I think it would be more effective? and vastly better for the environment. Lane keeper wont help.

Folk are wanting the 4x4/Cross but they’re put off with the wait times so look elsewhere…they’re also put off by crap dealerships and aftercare

Can you still get a 4x4 or Cross. I thought they were long dead as stellantis dismantles Fiat prior to getting rid of the brand altogether. Fiat itself is already gone. Its just a badge now. If a new 4x4 cross was available I would be pleased to buy in. Im considering a LHD car from europe and converting it to RHD.

I think the common sense thing for makers to do is exactly what Stellantis have done. Extend ICE models life. Not much point bringing in new models until the landscape is clear. If the 4x4 was a tad more economical it would be great still and prove the point. OK its noisy, but thats my only complaint. A car is to get you from A to B not to bankrupt you paying for and maintaining a pile of stuff you dont need / want or indeed need / want to pay for, Or am I missing something?

 

[The Panda Nut]

Pandina to be supplied "to all major european countries".... Thats the UK out from the equation then. We are not major and are not european. Added to this we choose to drive on the correct side of the road and 'they' dont like that at all

 

[SB1500]

Sorry.... safety woes??? Who wants all this electronic rubbish. Not me for sure
Lane keeper??? If you are not awake and are too pissed to drive in a straight line you sould not be driving al all. The Panda in the real world is a strong structure capable of rolling and staying intact. Its also acceptably strong in side and head on collisions, and as good in these basic respects as most other cars of a similar size. All this stuff is put on to satisfy N Cap and the euro ******* who instigated the Euro emissions rules and failed to police them. THe emissions and economy scandal of all time. All this extra electronic stuff is not necessary, and of little real world use. What they do however is switch on the warning lights and put the car off the road at MOT time. Its bad enough now. How exactly is this good?
I can't see it.

Ok the extra airbags are a good thing I suppose and CBC being standard is may be good. I have it on mone however and its done nough except scare me to death applying the brakes twice at inappropriate times. Its under consideration for being switched off for good. Im very unconvinced it would work to good effect if needed.

I like many many others who have 4x4 Pandas drive on narrow single track country roads 70% of the time. What *** good is lane keeper to me, and in what way is it a safety feature? Perhaps it will make me steering straight... Oh n,o the roadside ditches do that by making it worthwhile driving on the carriageway like my instructor suggested I should 50 years ago. I am sorry for those that are suckered into thinking this rubbish is so good they should buy a new car to get it. Dont compalin about the price of food, fuel and energy if you want to pay for this stuff. Make it an optioonal pack and let those who cannot drive in a stright line can buy it if they want it. When I cant drive in lane, I shall hand my license back!

If they concentrated on economy I think it would be more effective? and vastly better for the environment. Lane keeper wont help.

Can you still get a 4x4 or Cross. I thought they were long dead as stellantis dismantles Fiat prior to getting rid of the brand altogether. Fiat itself is already gone. Its just a badge now. If a new 4x4 cross was available I would be pleased to buy in. Im considering a LHD car from europe and converting it to RHD.

I think the common sense thing for makers to do is exactly what Stellantis have done. Extend ICE models life. Not much point bringing in new models until the landscape is clear. If the 4x4 was a tad more economical it would be great still and prove the point. OK its noisy, but thats my only complaint. A car is to get you from A to B not to bankrupt you paying for and maintaining a pile of stuff you dont need / want or indeed need / want to pay for, Or am I missing something?

Hey, I’m with you on the useless-ness of these aids. Some of the newest, most high-tech cars I see on the road [still] are driven by the most numb skulled idiots who despite the tech, still nearly cause accidents!

But when I said woes, if nothing else, I’m referring to my own decision to not buy one for safety. I know there’s nothing wrong structurally or that less tech doesn’t make it less safe - but reports of things like the seat belts not holding back the rear seat occupants and the low score for children (which I’m sure tech still wouldn’t impact other than a scenario of avoiding an accident).

I hate NCAP as much as the next switched on consumer who realises that it, and a bunch of the popular car magazines / news agencies are all bought out by certain manufacturers and political interests. I take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Still, if nothing else, this safety tech should help the Panda continue to appeal to people which in my books, is a good thing.

Pandina to be supplied "to all major european countries".... Thats the UK out from the equation then. We are not major and are not european. Added to this we choose to drive on the correct side of the road and 'they' dont like that at all

Well, we’re European by continent. And in market terms, still considered part of the European market as far as American or Asian global firms would view it. Thankfully not by any political measure anymore!

As for significant… I can’t think of many European cities that are more significant in any economic measure than London.

GDP of European cities | Statista

The city of London in the United Kingdom had an estimated gross domestic product of 801 billion Euros in 2017/18, the most of any European city.

www.statista.com

London is truly a city and economy that can stand on its own two feet… on a world level.

Whilst I know most of us can curse it for hogging all the investment (similar thing in NI with Belfast getting all the good stuff..), it’s a remarkable crown to call the UK capital. Economically anyway.

I hope that makes us a good market for Fiat going forward.

Having changed the cabin filter with GREAT difficulty on my 2017 Panda Easy back in the day, I will admit, the Italians showed us no empathy with the placement of the pedal gear / steering stuff that perfectly obstructed the little door for the filter!

 

[AndyRKett]

Added to this we choose to drive on the correct side of the road and 'they' dont like that at all

At least when we attack in our cars we will have our sword hand free for open car window stabbing.
In fact it wasn't till the 1700s that europe took to driving on the left.... before that even the Pope decreed that everyone should drive on the right..... So we are both right and right in our side of the road to drive, choice.

Some of the newest, most high-tech cars I see on the road [still] are driven by the most numb skulled idiots who despite the tech, still nearly cause accidents!

I think the key point to take from that is "NEARLY" maybe the aids stop the aforementioned numb skulls from actually causing the accident, reducing the event to only "nearly"

I hate NCAP as much as the next switched on consumer who realises that it, and a bunch of the popular car magazines / news agencies are all bought out by certain manufacturers and political interests. I take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Didn't you base your last car purchase on the Panda NCAP results being specifically poor? If the above is true then NCAP shouldn't have had any bearing on your car choice ?

 

[The Panda Nut]

Hey, I’m with you on the useless-ness of these aids. Some of the newest, most high-tech cars I see on the road [still] are driven by the most numb skulled idiots who despite the tech, still nearly cause accidents!

But when I said woes, if nothing else, I’m referring to my own decision to not buy one for safety. I know there’s nothing wrong structurally or that less tech doesn’t make it less safe - but reports of things like the seat belts not holding back the rear seat occupants and the low score for children (which I’m sure tech still wouldn’t impact other than a scenario of avoiding an accident).

I hate NCAP as much as the next switched on consumer who realises that it, and a bunch of the popular car magazines / news agencies are all bought out by certain manufacturers and political interests. I take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Still, if nothing else, this safety tech should help the Panda continue to appeal to people which in my books, is a good thing.


Well, we’re European by continent. And in market terms, still considered part of the European market as far as American or Asian global firms would view it. Thankfully not by any political measure anymore!

As for significant… I can’t think of many European cities that are more significant in any economic measure than London.

GDP of European cities | Statista

The city of London in the United Kingdom had an estimated gross domestic product of 801 billion Euros in 2017/18, the most of any European city.

www.statista.com

London is truly a city and economy that can stand on its own two feet… on a world level.

Whilst I know most of us can curse it for hogging all the investment (similar thing in NI with Belfast getting all the good stuff..), it’s a remarkable crown to call the UK capital. Economically anyway.

I hope that makes us a good market for Fiat going forward.

Having changed the cabin filter with GREAT difficulty on my 2017 Panda Easy back in the day, I will admit, the Italians showed us no empathy with the placement of the pedal gear / steering stuff that perfectly obstructed the little door for the filter!

The thing that gets me is they will not sell the 4x4 here again. For us its perfect. Fits the roads and a half sensible price. You are thiking wishfully if thinking we re still significant. The number of times its reported back how the rest of the world is laughing at us these days is frightening. Im talking of direct reports from my family who live abroad not the press. Ive lready outlived my time!

May be if I had a young family I would have been put off the no stars, but I watch all the breakers yards for Pandas and they may be written off but I have seen almost none that would have not protected the inhabitants. Primary safety comes from the agility which is still as good as ever it was, so Im really not too bothered. Im hoping the Pandas will stay in the family untill worn out too so not bothered about selling on. Noop (4x4) has really earned hos corn round here in the recent floods and with all the mud. Finally my neighbours daughter now drive a Fiat too. 3 Pandas on the drive has them convined at last.

 

[The Panda Nut]

At least when we attack in our cars we will have our sword hand free for open car window stabbing.
In fact it wasn't till the 1700s that europe took to driving on the left.... before that even the Pope decreed that everyone should drive on the right..... So we are both right and right in our side of the road to drive, choice.





I think the key point to take from that is "NEARLY" maybe the aids stop the aforementioned numb skulls from actually causing the accident, reducing the event to only "nearly"


Didn't you base your last car purchase on the Panda NCAP results being specifically poor? If the above is true then NCAP shouldn't have had any bearing on your car choice ?

I do think fundamentally it is a good thing and has improved safety, but they are now, like the EU loosing the plot and over extending. I would love to know how many accidents these new things are supposed to stop or improve the impact of,

 

[AndyRKett]

I do think fundamentally it is a good thing and has improved safety, but they are now, like the EU loosing the plot and over extending. I would love to know how many accidents these new things are supposed to stop or improve the impact of,

The thing is the accidents they avoid go unrecorded there is no way to say how many potential lives are saved by this technology, but if just few people go home each night that wouldn’t have done then it has done a good job.

If a car can brake even a few milliseconds earlier than a human driver where a driver may take a second or two to register a car is stopped or something has fallen in the road.

The fact remains that the number of the cars on our roads had gone up massively over the last 30-40 years, there are many times as much traffic on the road now as in the past yet the despite the huge increase in miles being covered and journeys being made the number of fatalities or seriously injured had not gone up and cars year by year have become more safe.

You have to remember the current generation panda had its roots going back over 20 years with no major changes so it is highly unlikely that it would stand up in an accident against its modern equivalent.

 

[SB1500]

The thing that gets me is they will not sell the 4x4 here again. For us its perfect. Fits the roads and a half sensible price.

I really wish we were getting the next 4x4, or could still buy them new presently. But at least they can be got for a substantial saving (mis-classified Cross 4x4 models selling used now). It is a shame.

Things have sort of went backwards, years ago "You want a 4x4? - here's one that's capable, but without all the running costs of a huge, heavy car!" - Panda 4x4

Now it's, "Hey, you want a 4x4? - here's a bunch that are useless off road, we call it a crossover! All the running costs of a big, heavy uneconomical car with 'SUV styling' panels. Won't get you far in the snow though, but your peers will think you're cool! (just the ones who can't tell a Range Rover from an Evoque - but they are aplenty)."

May be if I had a young family I would have been put off the no stars, but I watch all the breakers yards for Pandas and they may be written off but I have seen almost none that would have not protected the inhabitants. Primary safety comes from the agility which is still as good as ever it was, so Im really not too bothered. Im hoping the Pandas will stay in the family untill worn out too so not bothered about selling on. Noop (4x4) has really earned hos corn round here in the recent floods and with all the mud. Finally my neighbours daughter now drive a Fiat too. 3 Pandas on the drive has them convined at last.

I hope they serve you well. I still regret getting rid of my 2017 Panda Easy. Hell, even the old '05 Panda. For £140 a year in tax, I should have kept it around, gave it a wash and a short drive every so often.. Probably rotting in a field somewhere. In a strange way, the CT200 reminds me of the '05 Panda, the funny weird looking little bit at the read side profile of both is kind of quirky I think.

 

[The Panda Nut]

If a car can brake even a few milliseconds earlier than a human driver where a driver may take a second or two to register a car is stopped or something has fallen in the road.

I do agree and have CBC on mine. Its done nothing yet other than scare the hell out of me working when I specifically didnt need it to, and would have done nothing for me in the last 1.7million miles, but you do only need it once. ABS however save a life within the first 50 mile of my having a car with it and has saved issues on a number of occasions. Insurers dont think it has any benefit......

 

[StevenRB45]

I do agree and have CBC on mine. Its done nothing yet other than scare the hell out of me working when I specifically didnt need it to, and would have done nothing for me in the last 1.7million miles, but you do only need it once. ABS however save a life within the first 50 mile of my having a car with it and has saved issues on a number of occasions. Insurers dont think it has any benefit......

I don't think the CBC on the Pandina will be related to your CBC.

It sounds like they've fitted the BCM from the rest of the Stellantis range to enable the additional features as they are one to one with everything else they make.

They put one camera behind the mirror, this watches white lines and sounds a buzzer if you go over one without indicating...until you turn it off. It also reads road signs which will appear I assume in the new LCD dash and be able to be sent to the new cruise control and speed limiter...and measures distance to the car in front.

If you look at FCA panda.



Stellantis Pandina

They are clearly of an entirely different design.

Second is suspiciously similar to this...

There's also the change to 4 parking sensors when it was 3....which suggests the new BCM expects to see 4 on the rear..which would match other PSA things.

4x4 wise stick a set of mud and snow tyres on any small light car with reasonably sized tyres and some ground clearance...it's now a winter weapon. The 4x4 does jack all in most circumstances unless for some reason you decide to actually go off road.

 

[AndyRKett]

I think the main reason specificaly the panda was so badly hit by the chip shortage is because it is such an old model now.

If you have a multi million pound machine that makes microchips and there is a shortage, are you going to make 20 year old chips that only sell for pennies or are you going to make more advanced modern chips that sell for a lot more.

Probably the decision to continue the current panda is only made possible by updating the electronics to something much more modern, otherwise they may not be able to predict supply of parts if they continued to use old components.

In essence the electronics in the panda became obsolete, that is not to say that the technology was bad, just that the components used were no longer available

 

[SB1500]

Interestingly, the 2011 Fiat Panda was one of the first (if not the first and/or only) car in its segment in 2011/2012 with automatic braking as an option (https://www.media.stellantis.com/uk-en/fiat/press/new-fiat-panda-italian-style-universal-appeal). Fiat definitely messed up by removing the option in a world that was increasingly becoming expected as standard from around 2015 on (e.g. Toyota making this kind of stuff standard in most of its models). Walked right into the sh**storm that is agencies like NCAP framing them out to be some kind of death trap.

It was more stuff like the seatbelt mechanisms not working that put me off, not the lack of fancy safety tech.

I love the CT. But I must admit, talk of this next-facelift current Panda is making me think of them more than I should be. One parked outside my office today (funnily enough, illegally where the German cars usually are!). Another crossed me on the way into work. Another on the bridge on the way home. All white Pop models, different reg's. The only interesting ones like different colours / specs (Cross and 4x4's) I see all tend to be from ROI - they must love Fiat down there. Whilst we're left with one dealer :-/ Still, I'd welcome a Fiat section of the local Citroen / Peugeot outlets if Stellantis goes that route.

Bottom line is, if people are still buying it - nothing wrong with Fiat giving it what it needs to continue the momentum. The buyers vote at the end of the day. For bigger, more expensive segments the high sales and buying power of the target consumer can justify 4-5 year entirely new models, and some of those market leading brands have a winning formula with squeezing 4+ models out of a single platform, with a different badge and multiple-grades of plastic from nasty to 'soft touch' - and that's fine for them. But for the city car segment, often bought by maybe the elderly, the new drivers with money to spend on a new car, or older as a used car for new drivers or anybody in between the young to the old, the appeal is more universal. The cost is more important. Small and 'easy' is sometimes the selling point. Fiat understands that. Fiat is good at that. People like it. I wish they gave us all new steel as much as the rest of us on here for sure, but realistically it does make business sense for them to do what they're doing - or some high end executive at Stellantis would already have scrapped the plans.

My friend just bought a used A5 coupe, 2016. I was doing a bit of looking up to see what trim he got and what it included, found out that car ran from 2007-2016! Talk about long in the tooth. Just goes to show Fiat aren't the only ones holding on to models for too long. I thought the Corsa D was bad, 2006-2014. Even the CT ran for a long time too. They all seem to sell well with what is deemed an appropriate facelift and new feature set at the end of the day. No shame in it.

 

[StevenRB45]

One of the things I think is notable is actually cars like this have fewer and fewer rivals.

In some cases it doesn't need to be particularly good if all the rivals have moved up market and don't compete.

I was amused to see the C3 was best selling car somewhere in Europe year so far, more than Tesla's etc. I'd like to say this is because they are brilliant cars but they are generally average if reasonably characterful.

I would say the main reason they are enjoying a resurgence is the Fiesta is dead...a Fabia/Ibiza/polo with similar engine power and equipment is only 6 grand more which at this level is nearly 50% more expensive in fact you can get 110bhp Aircross for 2 grand less than a Fabia. Similar story with the Korean brands..they've all moved upmarket as well. Leaving the bottom of the market to cheap Chinese cars and the absolute charisma free zone that is Dacia.

If you're selling cheap cars that aren't unpleasant you're going to pick up sales by default in the current climate because all the rivals have decided such things are beneath them.

 

[AndyRKett]

My friend just bought a used A5 coupe, 2016. I was doing a bit of looking up to see what trim he got and what it included, found out that car ran from 2007-2016! Talk about long in the tooth. Just goes to show Fiat aren't the only ones holding on to models for too long. I thought the Corsa D was bad, 2006-2014. Even the CT ran for a long time too. They all seem to sell well with what is deemed an appropriate facelift and new feature set at the end of the day. No shame in it.

The main issue with this as an argument, is that while the A5 my have run from 2008 when it actually went on sale to 2016, it did get an full update and face lift in 2013. in any case 8 years is still considerably shorter than the 12/13 years since the Panda last got a proper facelift or update.

There was a new model as of 2017 and is about to get updated again for 2024, the A5 is also a bit of a sideline car, Audi sell way more 4 and 5 door cars of this size to families it is not part of their core line up and therefore they can afford to hold onto it longer.

You're trying to make this comparison to the panda in what has been termed "what aboutism" So I shot the man but what about that person there who bludgeoned someone to death with a club.... thats lovely but you still shot someone.. the same applies here you can point out other manufacturers all you like, that doesn't get away from the problems in Fiat.

The panda launched in 2003, and had a face lift in 2011, since then aside from some minor cosmetic changes, there has been no major changes to the underpinning car or platform, so the "current" panda is a 20 year old car. it doesn't matter how long other manufacturers hold onto models, when you are looking at the Panda and how long it has been in production. The Audi would have been a much safer car than a panda was back in 2007 and having had two revisions since then will be a much, much safer car come 2025 and operates in a completely different part of the market. Also the Audi A5 was conceived after the Panda, put into production, given a face lift and renewed twice in the same time that the panda has had one face lift and that's it.

The Lexus CT was launched in 2011 debuted in 2010, and had only a couple of face lifts in its 11 year run before it was discontinued. that is still longer than the duration of the Audi, but still a long way off the 20+ years of the panda.

Manufactures tend to discontinue cars on the basis that they're not selling enough, the market isn't demanding them, and so they have no incentive to replace it with a newer model. With fiat they have demand they have the incentive but they still fail to update models which over time alienates their customers, as an example if you bought a new Panda back in 2003, updated it 3 years later in 2006 it would be the same car, update your panda again in 2009 and its still the same car, 2012 you get a different look but its essentially the same car under the skin, 2015 same car 2018 its the same car, 2021 still the same car, and now in 2024 you have the choice of buying the same car again which you have already replaced 4 times in the past with no major changes or difference. or you look elsewhere.

So many people have turned off to fiat on the basis that they just don't offer anything new. The same applies to the Fiat 500 which has not seen any major upgrades or changes since 2007, the same year the A5 launched.

If you're selling cheap cars that aren't unpleasant you're going to pick up sales by default in the current climate because all the rivals have decided such things are beneath them.

Absolutely there are people out there who just want a car to use to get from point A to point B and are not looking for anything to fancy. Dacia had this part of the market wrapped up but their prices have grown massively in the last few years. Citroen have been filling that part of the market quite well for a while now. Not only that but citron actually updates their cars and they are reasonably well equipped and perform well on Ncap. Why can fiat not do this ? hopefully as part of Stellantis they will finally pull their finger out, because if not they will end up well behind other companies in the same group. They like to point out how well they sell cars in brazil, italy and turkey, but if stellantis is to be a "Global Company" then really they will want to sell all their brands cars in these places and Fiat might find its self facing tough competition from within its own group. People in Brazil are not buying fiats because they are the best car, they are buying them because they are cheap and not unpleasant

 

[SB1500]

I was amused to see the C3 was best selling car somewhere in Europe year so far, more than Tesla's etc. I'd like to say this is because they are brilliant cars but they are generally average if reasonably characterful.

Two more appeared on my street in the last year, in addition to the existing one from the last two years. That's an orange/black one, a darker red/black one and a mint green/black one. These are all women, different age ranges (20s/30s/60s) who definitely aren't car people who I can imagine just went for the look / colour / cutesy appeal of them. I admire Citroen in the way I admire Fiat for not being afraid to build things that stand out according to their own style ideas and not pathetically rehashing what others come out with.

the absolute charisma free zone that is Dacia.

Sad but true. A decade ago I quite liked them. I wanted to buy a real, bottom of the line Access model, stick a radio in it and not much more - although £5995 was still out of my budget back then. I test drove one back when I owned the 2005 Panda around 2016/17 - an Access model. It reminded me a lot of the Panda, a little steadier, but still robust and well put together, but the same sort of hard but tough plastic everywhere you could reach and see. I think had I ended up owning one instead of the Panda I'd have got on much the same with it.

The whole Dacia range back then was perfectly priced and stood up well in the market. I agree that now, the cars are over priced (all that bragging about being so cheap in their first impression in our minds 10 years ago, doesn't mix well with trying to reach further up market now in pricing and options!). Back then, the Sandero looked fine against the basic i10, the Suzuki Alto etc in the same price segment, a little more grown up looking. Now it just blends in with other B segment cars, without the bargain price I don't think it will win any awards on looks or performance or luxury. Maybe in European markets they still offer a much more stripped down variant that sells in big volumes?

 

[StevenRB45]

Nevermind the colours and styling.

If you want a new car that will seat 4 adults, with luggage, can deal with motorways, has cruise control, all the airbags, air conditioning, a dab radio, 40-50 mpg is comfortable but not vast and change for 200 quid a month on a lease/PCP without putting a house deposit sized initial payment down what are your options?

I've seen quite a few elderly people in the You! Model which is distinctive on it's 15 inch steelies, previously they would have had Hyundai i20 or a Vauxhall Viva or a Ford Ka+ or a Fabia/Ibiza or polo or something like that but it's all gone or gone upmarket.

It may be the Pandina remains in a similar position and gets to live on as the current C3 is dying soon too although it seems they will offer a base none hybrid model with a manual gearbox and ice engine in the new one.

 

[AndyRKett]

Sad but true. A decade ago I quite liked them. I wanted to buy a real, bottom of the line Access model, stick a radio in it and not much more - although £5995 was still out of my budget back then. I test drove one back when I owned the 2005 Panda around 2016/17 - an Access model. It reminded me a lot of the Panda, a little steadier, but still robust and well put together, but the same sort of hard but tough plastic everywhere you could reach and see. I think had I ended up owning one instead of the Panda I'd have got on much the same with it.

The whole Dacia range back then was perfectly priced and stood up well in the market. I agree that now, the cars are over priced (all that bragging about being so cheap in their first impression in our minds 10 years ago, doesn't mix well with trying to reach further up market now in pricing and options!). Back then, the Sandero looked fine against the basic i10, the Suzuki Alto etc in the same price segment, a little more grown up looking. Now it just blends in with other B segment cars, without the bargain price I don't think it will win any awards on looks or performance or luxury. Maybe in European markets they still offer a much more stripped down variant that sells in big volumes?

I love the repeated cognitive dissonance here.

Constantly going on about wanting a Panda or other "cheap" "simple" cars that avoid that need to be constantly chasing something better.

Then decides that the Panda is just not safe enough despite constantly refuting NCAP results as nonsense not applicable.

Buys a Lexus.......

If you want a new car that will seat 4 adults, with luggage, can deal with motorways, has cruise control, all the airbags, air conditioning, a dab radio, 40-50 mpg is comfortable but not vast and change for 200 quid a month on a lease/PCP without putting a house deposit sized initial payment down what are your options?

probably the perfect car for someone who wants something cheap and simple, with all the standard mod cons people want these days, and get a family from A- B in relative safety. I dare say you could probably get heated seats and car play as well.

 

[kavinsanders87]

I saw this video.

they said that the new pandina will be in european market (the presenter said all the countries where this pandina will be on the market , they did not mentioned uk though). Until 2027.



the pandina will be the same , but with driving aid like automatic braking, lane control, read road signs (this will be a compulsory feature in europe for all cars) , and cruise control (not adaptive). auto high beams, x2 more airbags.

in the video you can see there is a more modern screen.

he said that the "classic 2012 panda will stay in the market with and all those improving feature will be includes as standard feature in both version. of curse the classic panda will not have the cross style

the pandina will be not 4x4 .

 

[SB1500]

If you want a new car that will seat 4 adults, with luggage, can deal with motorways, has cruise control, all the airbags, air conditioning, a dab radio, 40-50 mpg is comfortable but not vast and change for 200 quid a month on a lease/PCP without putting a house deposit sized initial payment down what are your options?

If it ticks the boxes, at a reasonable price then more power to it. I see a tonne of these current C3's about the place. Although, in all honesty, I am sure for the folks I know, price (of course) was a factor, but also the colour and styling - which Citroen has plenty of and always has

I saw this video.

they said that the new pandina will be in european market (the presenter said all the countries where this pandina will be on the market , they did not mentioned uk though). Until 2027.

It looks great to me. They've just brought it up to speed (technologically) with other cars in the market. Fashionably late, in usual Fiat fashion - but if it gives it more years of life, I think it's great.

Can't blame them for focussing on their home market(s) of the EU continent countries first. Now that it's a revised version of the car (probably a lot of paperwork and classification stuff behind the scenes) bringing it to the UK might be extra cost / work, and if sales here in particular are dropping, perhaps it makes business sense for them to hold off until the radical all-new models (concept drawing ones) land.

New life into the current model and a promise of some crazy but fascinating new ones. It alleviates a bit of what we all feared was 'the end of Fiat' within Stellantis. I watch with great curiosity. And I take joy in the fact that the Panda brand, current model, has the strength to keep going on despite all the criticism thrown at it!

 

[kavinsanders87]

If it ticks the boxes, at a reasonable price then more power to it. I see a tonne of these current C3's about the place. Although, in all honesty, I am sure for the folks I know, price (of course) was a factor, but also the colour and styling - which Citroen has plenty of and always has


It looks great to me. They've just brought it up to speed (technologically) with other cars in the market. Fashionably late, in usual Fiat fashion - but if it gives it more years of life, I think it's great.

Can't blame them for focussing on their home market(s) of the EU continent countries first. Now that it's a revised version of the car (probably a lot of paperwork and classification stuff behind the scenes) bringing it to the UK might be extra cost / work, and if sales here in particular are dropping, perhaps it makes business sense for them to hold off until the radical all-new models (concept drawing ones) land.

New life into the current model and a promise of some crazy but fascinating new ones. It alleviates a bit of what we all feared was 'the end of Fiat' within Stellantis. I watch with great curiosity. And I take joy in the fact that the Panda brand, current model, has the strength to keep going on despite all the criticism thrown at it!

I like 4x4 . if the new panda (the concept one) will be available I can about it. otherwise I will go for suzuki. the swift allgrip or the vitara/s-cross if I am looking foe something bigger.

for now I have a panda 1.3 multijet Antarctica 4x4 . I did some fixing and I will drive it until the destiny says otherwise.