The little Fiat Panda might not be the most good-looking car in its segment, and it might be getting a bit old now, but it has managed to provide an attractive offspring in the form of the 500. It also managed to stick around for so long that Fiat has managed to sell two full million of them.
The car with 2,000,000 written on the windscreen has just rolled off the production line in Poland and is a Cross version finished in Pasodoble Red and powered by the 75 HP 1.3 MultiJet engine. We’re currently at the second generation of the car, a version that has been sold in 76 countries across the world since its introduction in 2003.
The little Panda deserves a bit more credit than everybody is giving it, as in the first six months of 2011, it was the car with the highest sales in segment A both in Italy, with a 35.3% percent share, and in Europe, with a 16.6% percent share during the period from January to May. Fiat has tried to convince us it makes an award-winning car, reminding us it was named Car of the Year way back in 2004, but they really don’t need to, as the sales numbers speak for themselves.
To keep the design relevant and sellable, recent upgrades to the range include uro 5 type-approval and alternative engines (methane and LPG) engines, as well as versions with front-wheel or four-wheel drive with an Electronic Locking Differential.
Operative since October 1992, the Fiat Auto Poland factory in Tychy has to date produced 6.2 million vehicles, and is one of the most modern factories in Europe.
The car with 2,000,000 written on the windscreen has just rolled off the production line in Poland and is a Cross version finished in Pasodoble Red and powered by the 75 HP 1.3 MultiJet engine. We’re currently at the second generation of the car, a version that has been sold in 76 countries across the world since its introduction in 2003.
The little Panda deserves a bit more credit than everybody is giving it, as in the first six months of 2011, it was the car with the highest sales in segment A both in Italy, with a 35.3% percent share, and in Europe, with a 16.6% percent share during the period from January to May. Fiat has tried to convince us it makes an award-winning car, reminding us it was named Car of the Year way back in 2004, but they really don’t need to, as the sales numbers speak for themselves.
To keep the design relevant and sellable, recent upgrades to the range include uro 5 type-approval and alternative engines (methane and LPG) engines, as well as versions with front-wheel or four-wheel drive with an Electronic Locking Differential.
Operative since October 1992, the Fiat Auto Poland factory in Tychy has to date produced 6.2 million vehicles, and is one of the most modern factories in Europe.