Last week I sent this to FIAT in the snail mail post
Today I got a phone call from Fiat Customer Services (an 01753 number) saying that having spoken to the marketing department the Diesel Panda 4x4 will be with us sometime between August and September.
At last common sense has won the day!
Dear Sir/Madam
FIAT PANDA 4x4 1.3 MULTIJET DIESEL
UK RELEASE
I am writing to enquire, when, not if, Fiat UK will be releasing the Panda 4x4 with the Multijet Diesel engine in the UK? I work as a Land Agent in Rural Scotland and in these times of increased environmental awareness I would really like my next car to be economical, kind to the environment as well as benefiting from four wheel drive and raised ground clearance when navigating wintry roads and visiting Farms. As I generally travel alone with files and a laptop the car does not have to be large.
I have done some research on internet forums and general opinion is that the model has not made it here due to likely low sales figures based on sales of the 1.2 4x4. This in my opinion is completely erroneous. There are many people who would have considered a diesel Panda 4x4 but not the petrol version due to the relatively poor economy (large 4x4 cars like the Skoda Octavia Scout and forthcoming Subaru Outback diesels have better economy figures than the 1.2 4x4 Panda) and the poor in gear performance. This has been noted by all motoring journalists who have reviewed the Panda 1.2 4x4 and suggested that the diesel would be a more obvious choice.
I have taken the liberty of converting the economy figures from Fiat France’s website for the diesel 4x4 Panda and compared them against the 1.2 4x4 which I have shown at the bottom of this letter. At an annual mileage of 20,000 miles it is £560 cheaper to run a diesel Panda 4x4 over the petrol, as well as being a better performing car in terms of acceleration and importantly in gear torque. I am aware that Fiat offer a small diesel 4x4 in the Sedici but this has the same combined figure as the 1.2 4x4 Panda and a higher car tax bracket making it more expensive to run.
I cannot believe that it is an issue of engineering as the Multijet engine is already sold in Pandas in the UK in RHD form and the Panda 4x4 is already available in other European markets in diesel form. If it is a question of production line management I would recommend that Fiat UK does what Land Rover did with the Defender and drop the petrol version. If the UK can only have one type of Panda 4x4 then why not the diesel?
It would surely be a marketing masterstroke in these times of environmental awareness to sell the Panda 4x4 diesel in the UK? A 4x4 car with a combined economy of 54.6mpg and a CO2 figure of only 136g/km. This would be the most environmentally friendly 4x4 on sale in the UK!
In an ideal world I would happily take a RHD Panda Cross in green, but a regular 4x4 Panda diesel would do! I am sure I am not alone in wishing to see a diesel Panda 4x4 in the UK and I hope that you will take my comments on board. I look forward to hearing from you with details of when this great car will be available in the UK.
Today I got a phone call from Fiat Customer Services (an 01753 number) saying that having spoken to the marketing department the Diesel Panda 4x4 will be with us sometime between August and September.
At last common sense has won the day!
