Fiat has given a first look at its new Grizzly crossovers – larger versions of the Grande Panda that are aimed to give the brand a footing in Europe’s crucial C-segment.
To be sold in both fastback and straighter-edged SUV form, the Grizzly is an affordable family SUV “designed for the three regions” Fiat sells in, according to CEO Olivier François: Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.
“It completes the Panda and Grande Panda families,” he said, previewing the duo at Fiat parent company Stellantis’s investor day presentation in Michigan.
“It has the same DNA and is built on the same car, but it’s a different animal. It will not just elevate the market share, it will elevate everything: the revenue, the margins and the brand.”
The Grizzly – expected to be officially revealed at the Paris motor show in October – will be built on Stellantis’s value-oriented Smart Car platform, as used for the Grande Panda, Citroën C3 and Vauxhall Frontera.
Sized and priced to rival the likes of the Dacia Duster and Skoda Kamiq, the Grizzly will be offered with the same choice of petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains as its little brother.
It forms part of a wave of new Fiat products aimed at bolstering the brand’s coverage of the affordable car market and attracting new buyers.
Also in the pipeline is a new four-seat microcar (pictured below in green) to sit above the Citroën Ami-based Topolino and a new electric city car inspired by the original 1980s Panda (in orange).
This new sub-£15k entry EV will be produced at Stellantis’s Pomigliano plant in Italy alongside a Citroën twin, which today was confirmed to revive the 2CV name and be designed with heavy influence from its 1940s forebear.
Unlike Citroën, Fiat didn’t go so far as to preview the design of its new model, but François promised that “the real design is not the revival of an icon, it is literally the next icon”.
