2006 Fiat Panda MultiEco Concept

Since its divorce and cash-paid settlement with General Motors, Fiat has done some serious thinking about the future. After a near-death brush with accountants, the brand has moved well ahead, bouncing back from the sorry state it was in just a year ago with several new products for the Fiat brand and its luxury/performance subsidiary, Alfa Romeo, destined to enter North America by 2008.

One of the key vehicles behind the Italian firms rejuvenation is the Panda, a city car so impressive that it bowled over judges, winning European Car of the Year back in 2004 when it debuted. Though it is powered by an assortment of engines suitable for small kitchen appliances, Fiats think big motto and practicality strong-card helped this tall, boxy, but extremely affordable Panda put young Europeans on wheels.

Given its outright popularity, Fiat has explored different themed routes with the Panda. The companys first modification was to allow the little machine to head for the hills by jacking up the suspension, fitting it with a torquey MultiJet diesel motor and a lightweight all-wheel drive system. The result? A Panda at home in the wilderness. Fiat also added some colorful cladding and some new bodywork, spot lamps and a safari-style roofrack system to the Panda 4X4, and called it the Simba Concept. It was such a successful prototype that Fiat decided to produce it, giving it the name PandaCross. Its an appropriately cute name for such a cute vehicle.

In more recent times, Fiat has become more serious about the environment; this years Geneva Show served as a platform from which the brand launched a variety of new alternative fuel technologies, including a prototype hydrogen-powered Panda, a near-production methane-powered Panda, and this, the Panda MultiEco.

As the name suggests, the MultiEco lumps together Fiats advancements in the environmental powertrain department. The MultiEco uses the fundamentals of the methane-powered Panda and combines it with other existing ecological engine technologies. By the way, methane-powered cars arent anything new; in terms of the automotive world, methane fuel is natural gas, also known as CNG, a cleaner fuel than petrol. Coincidentally, the MultiEco runs on methane, one of the primary emissions of the black-and-white, bamboo-eating Panda. All silliness aside, what the MultiEco brings to the table is a new engine thats able to run on gasoline, CNG, or a mix of the two, and in the near future, hydrogen will be added to that list.

Built on a modular and flexible chassis with a tall body, the Panda was an easy conversion to natural-gas power. Its frame allowed for two new tanks - one longitudinally, one transversely - to be fitted giving it a capacity of 13 gallons, without detracting from the interior volume or cargo space in any way whatsoever. The MultiEcos powerplant is a converted version of the Pandas FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotized Engine), featuring a new belt-operated starter (BAS). This innovative starter-alternator provides instantaneous starts for the idle-stop mode, and is a similar system to that used in hybrids.


Tags: fiat panda

Spider catches motor award

THE new Alfa Spider, which made its international public debut at the recent Geneva International Motor Show, has already collected its first award.The Spider was voted Cabrio of the Year 2006 by a 23-strong panel of leading motoring writers from 12 countries across Europe.To be eligible for the award, cars had to be presented for the first time at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, and could not cost more than 60,000 Swiss Francs.This is the second time that a Fiat Auto product has won the award: in 1995 the title went to the Fiat Barchetta.The award was presented on Wednesday, March 1, by Luc Argand, Chairman of the Geneva International Motor Show, on the Alfa Romeo stand.It was accepted by Alfa Romeo Brand Manager, Antonio Baravalle, who acknowledged its importance.“It’s important because it recognises our brand’s intention to remain a contender in the convertible sector,” he said.“This type of car has always been important for Alfa Romeo, accounting for some of the most beautiful cars ever produced, from the Giulietta Spider in the 1950s, to the Duetto, and the Spider launched in the 1990s.“And today it is the turn of the new Alfa Spider, which has the essentially simple character of a true sports car, combined with the technological superiority of the new Alfa breed.”Tags: fiat cars

Severstal-Auto may assemble Fiat Grande Punto

14 Mar 2006
Source: just-auto.com editorial team
Russian automaker Severstal-Auto is considering assembling Fiat Grande Punto and other cars under licence from Fiat, Severstal-Auto’s CEO Vladimir Shvetsov said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The Prime-Tass news agency noted that Severstal-Auto earlier this year signed deals to assemble Fiat’s Palio and Albea cars and Doblo minivans.
Severstal-Auto said earlier that it planned to invest US$17.9m producing Fiats.
Severstal-Auto plans to decide within a month whether to launch production of a light truck model at its Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, or UAZ, Shvetsov told Prime-Tass without elaborating.
It also plans to launch the UAZ-Pickup sport utility vehicle (SUV) model at UAZ this year, Shvetsov said. The UAZ-Pickup will be based on the UAZ-Patriot SUV model, he added.
Severstal-Auto is also considering launching a new SUV model with a retail price of $20,000, Shvetsov said
Tags: fiat cars

Next Ford Ka to be presaged by Fiat 500 revival

While Ford's Fiesta is set to grow in its next iteration, the company's cheap n' cheerful bottom rung Ka hatchback will look to get by with a little help from an Italian friend: Fiat. The Ka replacement won't appear until 2010, but Fiat will revisit its historic 500 nameplate by producing their own version of the baby Blue [Oval] city car beginning next year.
Fiat showed a sensational looking spiritual successor to the 500, dubbed the Trepiùno concept, two years ago in Geneva. Click here for a refresher.
Tags: fiat cars

Fiat sees new industrial partnership by end-H1

MILAN (AFX) - Fiat SpA chief executive Sergio Marchionne said the group plans to announce a new industrial partnership by the end of the first half, the daily MF reported. Speaking at the Geneva motor show, Marchionne also reiterated that he wants to find a solution for the group's 49-pct owned retail finance unit Fidis by end-June. According to the daily, Fiat is in talks with several companies that could replace the four Italian banks that currently hold 51 pct of Fidis.

Tags: fiat cars

Fiat present all-new Sedici and Panda Cross in Geneva

A large area is dedicated to the concept of "QUATTROXQUATTROXTUTTI", marking Fiat’s return to the ‘4x4’ world, with the clear goal of making the entertainment and safety that only four-wheel drive can guarantee available to everyone. The absolute stars of the show are the brand-new Fiat Sedici and Panda Cross (the latter is also on display in the ‘Monster’ special series), as well as the Panda 4x4, the original four-wheel drive version that can tackle any situation without being fazed by anything. The Fiat Sedici is exhibited in four Emotion versions, all with four-wheel drive, and fitted with chromed bars, 16" alloys and chromed exhaust terminals. Two are equipped with the 120 bhp 1.9 Multijet engine, while the other two are powered by the 107 bhp 1.6 16v unit. The Panda Cross is present with a 70 bhp 1.3 16v Multijet, the same engine that equips the Panda Monster - the Special Series which obviously harks back to the famous Ducati motorcycle - and a Panda 4x4 that evokes the desire to travel in complete freedom, without forgoing any of the entertainment of driving this car through narrow city streets. And finally, visitors can take a close look at the extraordinary ‘Oltre Fiat’ show-car that aroused so much curiosity at the Bologna Motor Show in December.

Tags: fiat cars

Fiat Punto was Europe's best-selling car

The Fiat Punto was Europe's best-selling car last month, narrowly beating the Renault Clio. It's the first time in 10 years an Italian car has topped the charts.
There must be smiling faces at Fiat HQ. The struggling company badly needed the new Punto to be a hit to keep it out of trouble.

Software Notebook: Fiat rolls out Microsoft-driven, in-car 'infotainment'

For the past few months, little noticed by the outside world, a team on Microsoft Corp.'s Redmond campus has been running tests with one of the swankiest machines ever to use the company's software.
Rather than sitting on a desk, this piece of hardware gets parked in a garage.
The 2006 Alfa Romeo 159 is one of four cars to offer "infotainment" systems run on Windows Mobile for Automotive.
It's a 2006 Alfa Romeo 159, and it represents a new step in Microsoft's effort to spread its technology beyond personal computers. At the Geneva Auto Show this week, Fiat Auto plans to announce the availability of an in-car entertainment and information system that uses Microsoft software in four upcoming Alfa Romeo and Fiat models.
Based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile for Automotive software, the system is ultimately expected to be available for all Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo vehicles from the Italian automaker. Features include the ability to use voice commands and buttons on the steering wheel to control mobile phones and portable music devices in the car.
Microsoft's automotive technology is available in different forms through electronics suppliers, but the Fiat agreement is the first of its kind directly between Microsoft and an auto manufacturer. The software company hopes it will lead to deals with others.

New Fiat Croma

Fiat's New Croma range will make its first public appearance at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show, March 3rd -13th, 2005. It will go on sale in Italy in June. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and built at Fiat Auto's Cassino factory, the name recalls the famous and successful medium-large saloon that was on sale between 1985 and 1994 with over 450,000 sold during that period. The dimensions of New Croma- 4.75m (l.) x 1.77m (w.) x 1.60m (h.) with a wheelbase of 2.70m- are an indication of the extraordinary interior space available in this new range. The New Croma range will offer buyers the choice of three trim levels, five engines and either manual or automatic gearboxes. The engine options will comprise both petrol and turbo diesel units: 1.8 16v 130 bhp and 2.2.16v 150 bhp (petrol), 1.9 16v Multijet 120 bhp, 1.9 16v Multijet 150 bhp and a totally new 2.4 Multijet 200 bhp.