After last year’s demise of the Bravo, Fiat has been left without a representative in Europe’s compact hatch segment, but not for long as a successor is on its way.
We wouldn’t call the new Tipo sedan-based hatch a direct, but rather, a more realistic (read lower-cost) replacement for the Bravo, with Fiat aiming to replicate the Renault Group-owned Dacia brand’s success, creating affordable compact entries, similar to the Romanian firm’s sub-compact Logan series, but in the VW Golf’s category.
“It will be a test for the market because the [affordable compact] segment in Europe basically does not exist,” Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat Chrysler’s chief operating officer for Europe, told Autonews Europe in a recent interview in regards to the newly born Tipo series.
Based on the new Tipo sedan that will also be known as Aegea in its country of birth, Turkey, the Golf-sized hatchback remains very close to the former sharing the same design – more or less – right up to about the height of the rear door, with the hatch styling taking over from there. It will be shorter than the 4.5m long Tipo sedan, but it will retain the same width at 1.78m and wheelbase at 2.64m, offering a reduce cargo capacity but near identical passenger space to its bigger brother.
We don’t expect any hidden surprises under the hood, with the five-door model to be available with the same (initial) choice of engines as the sedan, including two diesels, the 95PS (94hp) 1.3 Multijet II with and the 120PS (118hp)1.6 Multijet II, and at least two petrols, a 95PS (94hp) 1.4-liter and a stronger 1.6-liter mill.
As with the sedan, the hatch together with an upcoming estate variant, will all be produced at Fiat’s factory Tofas joint venture plant in Turkey. Expect to see the new Tipo family at next year’s Geneva Motor Show in March.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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