Fiat primes new Panda-inspired family but 500 "will never die"

Fiat is working towards offering two distinct families of cars – one inspired by today's 500 and the other by the original Fiat Panda.

The brand recently revealed five new concept cars inspired by the Panda, which are due to evolve into production cars in the next three years, but there remains room in the line-up for the 500 to evolve and spawn new derivatives as its ‘vintage’ appeal “will never die”, according to Fiat design boss François Leboine.

He explained that he perceives Fiat as having two 'souls': the 'Dolcevita' ethos, as embodied by the 500 and its derivatives, and the 'more practical, functional' language that defined Giorgetto Giugiaro’s original Panda.

"These two souls of our brand are answering two different types of customers," he said. "We are super-happy to have this because it's two translations that are both, for designers, very cool to translate and play with."

He added that adopting different design languages for two distinct vehicle families means Fiat "will not be too repetitive and too boring".

Each of the Fiat’s five new concepts is designed with heavy inspiration from Fiat's old Lingotto factory in Turin, famous for its roof-top test track, which is mirrored in the design of certain ovoid interior elements.

Leboine also highlighted how the factory's windows have inspired the pixel-style headlights and brake lights, and generally how the building's utilitarian architecture manifests in a "form follows function" approach to the cars' designs.

Leboine insisted, though, that despite taking influence from a century-old building and nodding heavily to Fiat’s utilitarian heritage, the brand is not switching to a retro design language for its future cars.

He said. "What we get from Lingotto is an eternal modernity. I don't think there is anything retro about what we've done. I'm quite comfortable with this.