Fiat 600 back as 500’s more spacious sibling – Overview

Attractions

• Successor 500X
• It’s coming this year
• It shares technology with the Jeep Avenger and the Peugeot e-2008

It seems like a typical Italian thing to extend the model’s life as long as possible. You can call it charming, but it is not always easy from a business point of view. For the Fiat 500 and 500X, the damage is not so bad, because the bad looks of all retro rascals prove to be permanent. However, these models do not last forever. Even before the merger of Fiat’s parent company FCA and PSA to form the Stellantis, Fiat itself came up with a new version of the 500 sub. The electric 500e was introduced in 2020 and has been doing very well in Europe since then, so that’s going well. . For the 500X, the successor is more convenient for Fiat. Because PSA already has a whole series of compact crossovers in-house, which can serve as the basis for a similar model from Fiat. Jeep previously benefited from this technology with the Avenger and was the first to receive the new version of the e-CMP platform. The same small STLA base will also be available under the new Fiat. The car, which will probably be called the Fiat 600, will definitely be an EV. Versions with petrol engines and hybrids are likely to follow as well, although Fiat chose to introduce that traditional technology in the old model with the new 500e and 500. The only real certainty about the Fiat 600 therefore seems to be an electric version, which will be similar to next to the aforementioned Jeep Avenger and compact electric models from Peugeot, Opel and DS. So count on a total battery of 54 kWh, a range of 400 km and a fast charging capacity of up to 100 kW. The electric car will be able to deliver 156 hp to the front wheels. Neat values ​​for this segment, where there is already little choice outside of Stellantis. So it is not surprising that the French-Italian-American group wants to use this leadership as much as possible.

Fiat 600 (Larson Drawing)

500 design

Although we know the old PSA technology, the 600 will soon be completely ‘Fiat’ on the outside. The spy shots even make it clear that many of the 500X’s retro features have been retained and that there is again a car with many exterior references to the Fiat 500 from the 1950s. Think (partially) round headlights, but also vertical taillights and a free circular car with a sympathetic appearance. Fiat didn’t have to find ways to give the big grille a new job, because that grille didn’t exist with the 500 series models anyway. We again expect a narrow cooling slot in the nose, possibly supported by a larger one under the bumper. The interior will soon reveal that this Fiat is the first to share its technology with Peugeots, Opels and Jeep Avenger. Expect control knobs and buttons from the old PSA stables as well as an infotainment system based on that. The shared parts are of course integrated together in a form that fits well with the rest of Fiat’s range. Think a big 500 round ‘clock’, but digital. ‘Automatic control’, by choosing the direction of travel, is of course done by buttons. After all, that is also the case in the new 500e and Jeep Avenger, with a set of buttons that are the same as those of the technical completely different 500e. Now that the two cars have been named together: it’s surprising how much the Avenger, built on PSA technology, resembles the 500e built under FCA internally. Of course, the 600 follows the same path, combining elements of both concerns.

Steps

Fiat’s new electric crossover is expected this year. That is not our opinion, but the logical result of Fiat’s promise that two new electric models will be presented in 2023. So the 600 is not alone, but maybe once it will be connected to the same model in hatchback form. The spiritual successor to the Fiat Punto was announced in 2021 and given the platform’s available technology and Fiat’s years of absence in the B-segment, this would be a perfectly logical choice. The new ‘Punto’ – the name is not yet known – will then be the sibling of the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa, both of which are very popular. The electric version of this car can also be seen immediately, because after all, the sister products also have it.