Fiat Panda and Lancia Ypsilon Replacements Pushed Back for 2012

Following CEO Sergio Marchionne's comments at the 2010 Paris Motor Show (see here), Autonews Europe has uncovered new information regarding the Fiat Group's future product launches.

One of Fiat's most important models in Europe, the third generation Panda, was originally due in summer 2010 but its launch had already been pushed back to September 2011. Now, sources inside the company told the news site that the introduction of the small five-door hatchback will be further delayed until January 2012.

The third generation Lancia Ypsilon supermini has also been delayed more than two years, as have the replacements for the Fiat Idea / Lancia Musa small MPV twins and the Fiat Multipla 3+3 seater people carrier, which has been in production since 1998. The latter two launches were scheduled for December 2011 but have now been postponed until the second half of 2012.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne froze his company's spending in 2008 as the financial crisis hit Europe. Spending was set to return to normal this year, but has now been postponed indefinitely in light of what Marchionne perceives as an unimproved European new car market.

He now predicts a weaker Q1 2011 than Q1 2010, due to the ending of scrappage schemes in many European countries. The rest of 2011 is expected to be no better sale wise for Fiat, Marchionne predicts.

Analysts are predicting that Fiat's new car sales are likely to continue to decline without any new products; sales in Europe fell 13.9% to 723,356 vehicles in the first eight months of 2011 in a market that declined only 3.5%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

Stuart Pearson, an auto analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, says: "Fiat is playing a dangerous game and by delaying key models risks missing any European Union recovery if they are wrong on the timing. Customers are only paying for brand new metal."
The report did not mention any plans on future Alfa Romeo cars.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: ANE [sub.req]


______________GALLERY - CURRENT GENERATION MODELS______________

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Fiat Celebrates Panda's 30th Anniversary with Special Edition Model

The Fiat Panda turns 30 this year and in celebration of the event, the Italian automaker has presented a [supposedly] special edition version with exclusive content. The commemorative model starts out as the Active 1.1, but gains the same black-jean interior trim as the Panda 4x4 Glam as well as a special finish on the B- and C-columns. And well, that's about it.


The Panda Anniversary is available with a choice of three exterior colors - red, white and yellow, with pricing remaining unchanged over the "standard" Active 1.1 at €9,950.


Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the first generation of the Fiat Panda was introduced in 1980. It remained in production until 2003 when Fiat launched the current, second generation model. Fiat has sold more than 6 million Panda city cars (both generations) to date.

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Fiat Panda Mini Receives Subtle Upgrades for the 2010 Model Year

Hmm; finding it a bit difficult to tell the differences between the 2009MY and 2010MY Fiat Panda? Well, can't say that we blame you as we ourselves had to thoroughly check out the press release to discover the changes. On the outside, all 2010 model year Pandas adopt the more contemporary body colored grille found on the 4x2 and 4x4 Dynamic variants, new alloy wheel options, larger exterior mirrors and silver trim finish for the roof bars. Fiat has also added four new exterior colors to the lineup.


Inside, the instrument panel gets fresh graphics while there's also a new selection of upholstery colors.


Mechanical improvements are limited to the introduction of a new 69 horsepower 1.2-liter gasoline engine that emits 113g/km of CO2. In Europe, Panda buyers have a wide choice of gasoline, diesel, natural gas and LPG engines with outputs ranging from 54 to 100 horsepower.


The Panda, which formed the base for the new Fiat 500 and Ford Ka models, was launched in September 2003. In the six years it has been in production, Fiat has sold more than 1.5 million units of the mini hatchback.

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Fiat Celebrates Production of 1,500,000th Panda

The evergreen Fiat Panda city car has reached a new milestone as the 1,500,000th example of the model rolled off the Italian company's Poland plant in Tychy. The landmark model is a left hand drive car in magnetic blue with a 1.3 MultiJet engine that is destined for an Italian customer. The second generation Panda was introduced in 2003 winning several awards including the European Car of the Year 2004 title. Fiat said that this year a record number of 285,000 units will be produced.


The five-door mini that is also available in numerous AWD versions has been a runaway success for Fiat as it has remained the best selling A-segment car in Europe without a break since 2003.


The Panda, which formed that base for Fiat's 500 retro city car, has been exported to 74 countries including Japan, South Africa and Mexico.

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