New Fiat Grizzly: fresh info on Grande Panda’s bigger brother

Stellantis has just provided us with our best look yet at the new Fiat Grizzly. The larger sibling to the Fiat Grande Panda is set to go on sale later this year in both traditional SUV and ‘Fastback’ coupe-SUV forms.

Fiat’s CEO, Olivier Francois, said that “Grande Panda marked the return of Fiat to affordable family movers. With Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback, we’re completing this line-up with two vehicles designed around different needs, different lifestyles, but sharing the same idea: smart, accessible and rooted in Fiat’s design DNA.”

All of this highlights the fact that, at four-and-a-half metres long, the Fiat Grizzly will sit in the sector above the Grande Panda, despite both cars using the Smart Car platform. This puts the newcomer in direct competition with the likes of the Dacia Bigster and entry-level versions of the Nissan Qashqai. Prices for the Grizzly are expected to start from around £25,000 when the car eventually goes on sale.

Design

The Fiat Grizzly’s boxy proportions make it instantly identifiable as a member of the Panda family. Both the Grizzly and the sleeker Grizzly Fastback look identical from the front, with a gloss black trim piece spanning the area between the four-pixel headlights. This is very much reminiscent of the arrangement on the Grande Panda, but the Grizzly also gets what look to be further illuminated elements that converge towards the Fiat logo in the centre.

The bulky wheelarch cladding should appeal to those who enjoy the rugged nature of the Grizzly’s main rival, the aforementioned Dacia Bigster, while the latest image shows how we can expect the wheel design to vary between the standard SUV and its coupe sibling. At the back, both versions of the Grizzly get a similar black strip to the one at the front, again adorned with pixel-style LED lighting.

The periwinkle and burned orange paint colour showcased here also appear to reaffirm that Fiat is standing by its promise not to offer the colour grey on its cars. Instead, buyers should expect an array of vibrant shades, similar to what’s offered on the Grande Panda.

The Grizzly’s underpinnings have proved impressive in its smaller Grande Panda already. Not only is the Grande Panda the reigning Auto Express Supermini of the Year, but it is also now available from less than £19,000 through the Auto Express Buy A Car service.  

Interior and practicality

As you’d hope for with family SUVs, the cars’ interiors will focus on spaciousness and versatility, with rugged finishes designed to be practical and hard-wearing. Fiat will attempt, however, to set its offerings apart from the likes of the value-focused Dacia Duster (another key rival) by emphasising their heritage and having a greater sense of fun, not just usability.

Fiat will continue to reference its famous Lingotto factory in the interior’s design and detailing. As such, the oval-shaped elements that are found in the Grande Panda will probably be carried across, with a similarly varied use of different soft and hard-touch materials. Both cars will also probably feature the same technology package, including a 10-inch driver’s information display and a 10.25-inch touchscreen. Fans of separate climate controls will also be glad to see Fiat retaining fixed buttons.

As with the Grande Panda, Fiat’s colour and trim department will focus on using as many recycled materials as possible, including bamboo-fibre mixes and a combination of bright, high-contrast stitching. Small item storage has also been a focus, so there will be plenty of interior oddment space, and the Panda’s clever integrated charging cable, which is coiled away and accessible via the front bumper, should also be retained. 

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The key for both Grizzly models, though, will be offering enough space for families – something that the new supermini-sized Grande Panda is a little short on. Fiat is promising “best in class” boot capacity – for context, a Bigster offers up to 677 litres – plus the additional half a metre in length the Grizzly has over the Grande Panda should pay dividends in terms of rear passenger space.

Petrol, hybrid and electric power options

The Grizzly models won’t only share their design language with the Grande Panda, as mentioned above, they will also use the Stellantis Group’s Smart Car platform that underpins the smaller model, plus larger C-segment cars including the Citroen C3 Aircross and Vauxhall Frontera. 

We’ve already seen the Smart Car architecture can accommodate a wide selection of pure-petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains, and it’s flexible enough to allow Fiat to lengthen the wheelbase and widen the track to produce these C-segment models.

All petrol-powered models will use a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, which hybrid versions will pair with a six-speed automatic gearbox that has an integrated e-motor – as we’ve seen in all the Smart Car-based models. 

Meanwhile, the electric models will be offered with a choice of a 44kWh or 54kWh battery, as in the e-C3 Aircross and Frontera Electric. These should provide close to 180 miles and 250 miles of range, respectively. 

A 100kW maximum charging speed will allow for a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in about half an hour, and driving the front wheels is likely to be a 111bhp front-mounted electric motor. However, Fiat may choose to fit a beefed-up e-motor to give these bigger cars a bit more oomph than the smaller Grande Panda.

Fiat’s slow rate of new product launches and updates to existing models over the last few years has been a worrying sign for such an iconic brand – one that’s so important not just to the Italian car industry, but also to the country’s manufacturing base in general. However, this is about to change, as Fiat exploits the Smart Car platform and access to synergies across Stellantis. The Grande Panda was a bold first step, but the SUVs have the potential to re-establish Fiat as a true volume player across most European countries.

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