Off Topic Why is it called a Panda?

[Tom95]

I've had a bit of a dig around on the net, but Google has been less than helpful...

Does anyone know how FIAT came to name their small, Italian city car after a large Chinese mammal?

 

[Phantom3D]

To understand the the Panda, one must first learn The Way of the Panda, and become the Panda.

 

[babbo_umbro]

It's years ago but, as far as I recall, there was some link to the world wildlife fund on the car's initial announcement, and the WWF's symbol is the Panda. I don't know whether the WWF tie-up preceded the naming decision or not.

 

[PandaEleganza]

One story is that Fiat in the 70s thought that it was going to be able to break into the Chinese market and commissioned a basic 'go anywhere' car for that purpose. When that didn't happen, the design was revised for European tastes but of course remained very 'rustic' (indeed I believe the codename was Rustica??)

http://www.italdesign.it/en/projects/fiat-panda-eng/