Fiat gives the Panda a longer life. According to the Italian metal unions, who have spoken with Stellantis, the Panda will remain in production until 2026. That reports news agency Reuters†Stellantis also plans to build a battery factory in Italy.
The Fiat Panda will therefore continue to roll off the production line for another four years in the Pomigliano d’Arco factory in southern Italy, where the Alfa Romeo Tonale will soon be screwed together. Stellantis itself does not officially give an end date for the Panda, but since Fiat will fully electrify the range in the period from 2025 to 2030, it seems a logical step that the Panda will go out of production in 2026. Nothing is known yet about a possible (electric) successor to the Panda. The Centoventi Concept unveiled in 2019 was a preview of this, but since 2020 it has been quiet around the production plans of that model.
When production stops in 2026, the current Panda will be fifteen years old. In all those years, Fiat only changed the model to a limited extent, for example by adding a 7-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In 2020 Fiat introduced a mild hybrid version of the Panda: the Panda Hybrid. In the same year, in honor of forty years of Fiat Panda, the Panda Sport was also presented as a new version. The model is still running well: last year, according to market researcher Jato Dynamics, Fiat still sold 130,000 Pandas in Europe. In the Netherlands, the market turned its back on the Panda: last year only 364 new Pandas were registered here.
battery factory
Sources also report that Stellantis is going to build a ‘gigafactory’ in southern Italy for the production of batteries. In addition to the previously announced factories in France and Germany, this would be Stellantis’ third European battery factory. The Italian battery factory will be located in Termoli, where the company is having an existing engine factory converted. That deal is now reportedly at an advanced stage, so Stellantis is expected to provide more news about its future operations in Italy soon.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl