Spotted? Fiat 500L

[yellowjack]

I swear I saw two of these new Fiat "MPVs" driving down the Minley Road toward the M3 Jct 4A this morning. They were coming from the direction of the A30/Blackbushe. One was red, the other looked like a beige-ey sort of colour, but could have been a grey.

Not that I would be that interested in buying what appears to be a four-door 500, but I hadn't even heard that such a thing was on the way. I could of course be mistaken, as by the time I realised they were 'different' they were disappearing in my mirrors. Can anyone else shed any light on my 'close encounter' or am I barking up the wrong tree with my vehicle identification?





http://www.fiat.co.uk/uk/fiat-500l/world

[Geekman]

Saw one in the local fiat dealers around a week ago, absolutely hideous. No doubt it'll sell in vast numbers.

[DoctorX]

You can make a brew in it though as you can get a coffee maker in it, so it has one redeeming feature. Agree it looks horrible.

[PumpkinSteve]

I'm a bit puzzled as to where this fits in the Fiat range. It looks about the same size as a Panda.

[yellowjack]

PumpkinSteve said:

I'm a bit puzzled as to where this fits in the Fiat range. It looks about the same size as a Panda.

Exactly what I thought it was this morning - a facelift for the Panda to make it look more like the 500. The two I saw looked like they had quite high ground clearance too. As the Panda has a 4x4 version (or did) I thought that's what it was. I had to google 'new fiat' to find the right images to identify it.

As far as 'where does it fit in the Fiat range?' goes - I reckon it's an attempt to keep the '500' customers who have started families and therefore outgrown their two-door 500. Maybe the other offerings in the Fiat range just didn't appeal to the type of person who bought a 500 when they were single/a couple. Otherwise I don't see who would be their target market.

[Sods Law]

All I can offer is that's one Fugly vehicle? Talk about the ugly sibling?

[anonymous-user]

PumpkinSteve said:

I'm a bit puzzled as to where this fits in the Fiat range. It looks about the same size as a Panda.

It sits above the Panda and is actually longer and wider than the Punto!

[Wadeski]

PumpkinSteve said:

I'm a bit puzzled as to where this fits in the Fiat range. It looks about the same size as a Panda.

Marchionni said Fiat's strategy would be to have more offerings in the Panda / Polo / Corsa sized class, because nobody buys their Focus / Golf sized offerings.

Alfa Romeo will do the Golf competitor.