The replacement for the Fiat Pandina will have three seats, with the driver sitting front and center.

Fiat has not yet officially presented the next generation of the Pandina. However, at the’Stellantis Investor Day, A very special concept briefly appeared in the midst of the Italian brand's many future models. And this little urban vehicle, with its minimalist, almost toy-like design, could well give us our first glimpse of the replacement for the current Pandina. And there's a big surprise in store: a three-seat cabin, with a central driving position.

Just a few years ago, such an idea would have seemed completely unrealistic for a popular city car. But at Fiat, history has often shown that the most atypical projects sometimes end up becoming cult cars. After all, the original Panda, the Multipla and the Topolino all broke codes in their own way.

Fiat wants to reinvent the city car

For several months now, one thing has become clear: Fiat no longer wants to sell cars alone, but to offer different solutions for European urban mobility. The Topolino led the way with its ultra-minimalist approach to electric travel. The future Quattrolino, expected to be a four-seater version of the Topolino, will take this logic even further.

And it's precisely in this new universe that this mysterious future seems to be set. Pandina. In the first images released by Stellantis, we see a small, square, very compact vehicle, with LED headlights protruding from the bodywork, a huge windscreen and extremely short proportions. The whole thing is as reminiscent of Japanese kei cars as it is of certain retro-futuristic concepts from the 70s.

But the most intriguing detail is inside. The driver would be seated in the middle, with two passengers behind on either side. A rare configuration in modern motoring, popularized above all by the McLaren F1.

A Panda, a Pandina and a Grande Panda?

This future organization of the range becomes particularly interesting. Fiat now seems intent on multiplying the number of models around the Panda name.

Today, the situation remains relatively simple: the current Pandina continues its successful career in Italy, while the Large Panda opens up a new, more family-oriented, more international generation. But tomorrow, Fiat could very well simultaneously have an ultra-urban Pandina, a more versatile Panda and a Grande Panda aimed at families.

The future Pandina could thus become a genuine micromobility object, homologated as a real car, halfway between the Topolino and a classic city car. A sort of urban capsule designed above all for Europe's city centers, with the smallest possible footprint and very low running costs.

The Grande Panda would play a much more global role, with hybrid and electric versions capable of appealing to Europe, South America and certain emerging markets. Finally, Fiat seems to be reproducing a recipe it mastered perfectly in the 80s and 90s: offering several levels of popular cars adapted to very different uses.

And the Fiat 600?

This new strategy inevitably raises a number of questions. For with a range comprising Topolino, Quattrolino, Pandina, Panda, Large Panda then future SUVs Grizzly, the place of certain models becomes less obvious.

The Fiat 600 could find itself in a tricky position. Its role as a small urban SUV, albeit a more stylish one, is very similar to that of the Grande Panda, with similar dimensions and technologies. For the moment, no discontinuation of the Fiat 600 has been announced. But it's clear that the arrival of the Grizzly SUV and Grizzly Fastback SUV will profoundly change the organization of the Fiat range over the next few years.