[Update: As noted by two of our readers, Fiat’s steel wheels are unrelated to the ones used by Citroen and Opel despite looking incredibly similar, so we updated the story accordingly]
While covering the debut of the Fiat Panda 4×40° Limited Edition, I couldn’t help but notice the retro-flavored five-spoke wheels which are undoubtedly the highlight of the special edition of the aging model. Those shoes look very similar to the steel rims hiding under the plastic covers of my own Citroen C3, making me wonder if they were related – the short answer is no.
All of the 1,983 units of the Fiat Panda 4×40° come fitted with the pictured 15-inch wheels featuring custom center cap covers and a solid Ivory finish that matches the bodywork of the limited edition. Setting aside the new finish, the steel wheels were already used in other trims of the Panda 4×4 since 2017 albeit in black-finished form.
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In the Stellantis front, the five-spoke 16-inch steel wheels debuted in the Citroen C3 back in 2016, and were also adopted by the mechanically-related Citroen C3 Aircross and the facelifted Opel Crossland. The latter features a different design for the plastic covers, bringing a level of differentiation between Stellantis brands.
At first glance, the aforementioned wheels could easily pass for a shared component but a closer look under the covers reveals a different bolt pattern. This, in combination with the different measurements (width and diameter), proves that they are totally unrelated. A quick search online proved that a similar design with slight variations is also used by other automakers. The so-called “structure” wheels serve as a low-cost alternative to alloys which looks better than the widely-used steelies with hub caps.
While this appears to be a case of accidental similarity, shared components are a common practice in the automotive industry, in favor of reducing R&D costs and not wasting precious resources. Sometimes common parts remain hidden under the skin, but in other cases – such as rebadging – they are unashamedly visible. Fiat has yet to exploit the privilege of being a member of the Stellantis group, but that is going to change very soon as there is an army of upcoming models set to ride on shared underpinnings.
