Photo: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
How long has it been since Fiat started making the 500X? The Melfi plant in Italy started production of the subcompact crossover back in 2014. The Turinese marque pulled the plug on the 500X for the U.S. market after the 2022 model year. Big kahuna Olivier Francois made it clear that no replacement is planned stateside, where Fiat has reintroduced the 500e as a 2024 model.
Despite hearsay suggesting a second-generation 500X for North America, people in the know don’t hold their breath for one. The Fiat 600, which serves as the indirect successor to the 500X in Europe, is based on a Groupe PSA-developed platform designed specifically for markets outside of North America. Also called EMP1, the CMP rolled out in 2018 with the DS 3 Crossback.
Its electrified version is understandably dubbed eCMP for electric common module platform. This vehicle architecture is currently used by a plethora of Groupe PSA models, including subcompacts from the Opel and Vauxhall brands. The modernized version of the CMP, referred to as STLA Small, debuted with the Jeep Avenger that Stellantis manufactures in Tychy, Poland.
The cross-border merger between Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to launch quite a few more STLA platforms in the near future, including the STLA Frame body-on-frame vehicle architecture for applications that include Ram’s upcoming 1500 REV.
Snapped in Germany with a somewhat angry test driver behind the wheel (notice him flipping the bird to our spy photographer), the 600 is joined at the hip to the aforementioned Jeep Avenger. It will also be produced in Tychy, Poland. To make room for the 600 and a yet-to-be-detailed subcompact crossover from Alfa Romeo, the Italo-American-French carmaker will discontinue the combustion-engined 500 and Lancia Ypsilon as well.
Pictured with all-electric propulsion, the 600 will further spawn at least one combustion-engined alternative. In the Avenger’s case, 100 metric horsepower (make that 99 mechanical horsepower) channeled to the front wheels by a six-speed manual will have to make do. The all-electric Avenger is front-wheel drive as well, but levels up to 156 ps (154 hp). Under the WLTP combined test cycle, it offers up to 404 kilometers (251 miles).
Greatly inspired by the 500e, the 600 is equipped with a landscape-oriented touchscreen infotainment system. A circular instrument cluster – obviously, digital – also needs to be mentioned, along with a pair of tweeters in the A pillars. Equipped with Goodyear tires and black-painted alloys with four-lug hubs, the Italian crossover will compete with a growing number of increasingly good alternatives. Even the Avenger may steal customers away from the 600, firstly with its more rugged styling and secondly with its off-the-pavement credentials.
In regard to pricing, don’t expect this fellow to be all that different from the Avenger. Over in Poland, where it’s built, the smallest Jeep in production today costs 99,400 zlote (22,870 dollars at current exchange rates) for the 1.2-liter turbo three-pot engine and 173,500 zlote (39,920 dollars) for the battery-electric powertrain.
Its electrified version is understandably dubbed eCMP for electric common module platform. This vehicle architecture is currently used by a plethora of Groupe PSA models, including subcompacts from the Opel and Vauxhall brands. The modernized version of the CMP, referred to as STLA Small, debuted with the Jeep Avenger that Stellantis manufactures in Tychy, Poland.
The cross-border merger between Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plans to launch quite a few more STLA platforms in the near future, including the STLA Frame body-on-frame vehicle architecture for applications that include Ram’s upcoming 1500 REV.
Snapped in Germany with a somewhat angry test driver behind the wheel (notice him flipping the bird to our spy photographer), the 600 is joined at the hip to the aforementioned Jeep Avenger. It will also be produced in Tychy, Poland. To make room for the 600 and a yet-to-be-detailed subcompact crossover from Alfa Romeo, the Italo-American-French carmaker will discontinue the combustion-engined 500 and Lancia Ypsilon as well.
Pictured with all-electric propulsion, the 600 will further spawn at least one combustion-engined alternative. In the Avenger’s case, 100 metric horsepower (make that 99 mechanical horsepower) channeled to the front wheels by a six-speed manual will have to make do. The all-electric Avenger is front-wheel drive as well, but levels up to 156 ps (154 hp). Under the WLTP combined test cycle, it offers up to 404 kilometers (251 miles).
Greatly inspired by the 500e, the 600 is equipped with a landscape-oriented touchscreen infotainment system. A circular instrument cluster – obviously, digital – also needs to be mentioned, along with a pair of tweeters in the A pillars. Equipped with Goodyear tires and black-painted alloys with four-lug hubs, the Italian crossover will compete with a growing number of increasingly good alternatives. Even the Avenger may steal customers away from the 600, firstly with its more rugged styling and secondly with its off-the-pavement credentials.
In regard to pricing, don’t expect this fellow to be all that different from the Avenger. Over in Poland, where it’s built, the smallest Jeep in production today costs 99,400 zlote (22,870 dollars at current exchange rates) for the 1.2-liter turbo three-pot engine and 173,500 zlote (39,920 dollars) for the battery-electric powertrain.
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