Fiat Panda To Soldier On In Its Current Form Until 2026

The current generation of the Fiat Panda has been around for more than a decade but its production will continue until 2026 as suggested by metal workers unions in Italy after a meeting with Stellantis on Thursday. The Fiat Panda is produced in the Pomigliano plant in southern Italy where Stellantis will also produce the Alfa Romeo Tonale starting this year.

The third-generation Panda was introduced back in 2011 and while it has received a number of technology and powertrain upgrades over the years, it remains largely the same. The most recent update came in October 2020 and included the addition of the Panda Sport variant alongside the Panda City Life and the adventurous Panda Cross.

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Despite its age, the Fiat Panda has been an overall best-seller in the Italian market for many years, and remains among Europe’s best-selling vehicles in the A-Segment alongside the mechanically-related Fiat 500 thanks to its affordability and practicality.

Fiat’s popular city car is offered with the mild-hybrid 1.0-liter Firefly three-cylinder engine producing 69 hp (52 kW / 70 PS), but it is also available with the 0.9-liter Twinair CNG engine, and the 1.2-liter Fire petrol/LPG, while also offering all-wheel drive as an option in certain trims.

The Fiat Centoventi concept that debuted in the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and got green-lit for production in 2020, is thought to be a preview of a fully electric successor to the Panda. The fact that the ICE-powered Panda will soldier on until 2026 when it will be 15 years old, doesn’t mean that Fiat won’t be presenting the next generation sooner. After all, the same strategy is followed by the 500 with the old model selling in mild-hybrid form alongside the new 500 EV.

Besides the news on the Pomigliano plant, Stellantis is said to be close to an agreement for a huge update in the Termoli plant in Southern Italy. The latter will be converted to a battery gigafactory funded by the ACC joint venture with Mercedes-Benz and Total Energies. As reported by Reuters, union representatives said that the updates on Pomigliano and Termoli plants are indicative of Stellantis’ commitment to Italy towards the electrified era.