Those who know the current Fiat Panda might be forgiven for thinking the new one is just a refresh, writes Brian Byrne. The essential style hasn't changed, the distinctive shape with the windows in the back corners make it unmistakeable.
But the front end, lights and grille and bumper are re-designed. Every panel is changed, every detail inside and out, every identifying item like the name of the car now integrated in a protective runner across the back hatch door.
The new Panda is longer, taller, wider. The tailgate and load treshold are changed to make putting in luggage easier. The seats are thinner but more comfortable, and more flexible so that longer people can be accommodated, as can a greater range of cargo.
Fiat tell us they have done much with sound- and vibration-proofing. And they have improved the ride and handling, in the process making the car roll less on bends. They are also implementing a zero-tolerence programme in terms of assembly and component defects. Ambitious when you think that there are some 5,000 such components in New Panda.The powertrains include Fiat's award-winning TwinAir 2-cylinder unit, the turbocharged 85hp version to be joined by a 65hp naturally aspirated option, both with sub-100g/km CO2 emissions. And the familiar 1.3 diesel is available.
At launch, ESP will be an option, but will be standard on all models from September 2012.
The international launch event in Naples gave me the opportunity to push this small car through its paces in a mix of motorway and cramped city conditions, both in the thick of the almost lawless driving habits for which Naples is notorious. The TwinAir and the diesel were decently nippy as long as their gearboxes were enthusiastically worked. I rather think that in the less stressed conditions of Ireland, we will find the New Panda a pleasant fit.
The event also gave Fiat the chance to show off their €800m new factory in Pomigliano, under the brooding bulk of Mt Vesuvius. It is truly is a state of the art plant, all bright colours and darting machinery, red robot figures performinng highly-choreographed dances with the evolving vehicles.
The humans involved with the work wear comfortable uniform work clothes, many sporting cotton gloves so they don't spoil the sheen on paintwork at their particular stages of assembly.
Even the office workers are housed in glass rooms in the centre of the final assembly building, so they can feel that they are as integral a part of the operation as anyone on the factory floor.
Overall it is a strangely muted place. Yes, there's some mechanical clatter and hissing electrical noise, but nothing like the Hades of car assembly lines in the early half of the last century.
And the cleanliness is almost to operating theatre standards. Not a trace of grease, dust, or debris. Notices and charts about production and quality levels are strategically posted. There's a training area where workers new to the product can practice over and over the specific tasks in the team they are assigned to.
An old fashioned touch is a brass bell with a rope, rung whenever a worker gets an idea that might make some aspect of the work more efficient. A panel with pictures of those who have done so, with post-it notes of the ideas, is a place of honour.
Panda is in a small segment in Ireland, not nearly as important as on the more urbanised Continent. There, the Panda has consistently topped the small car sales leagues. Also, a fifth of Panda buyers across Europe have it as their primary car, substantially more than the average of cars in the segment.
Some 6.4m units of the two previous generations of Pandas have been sold, and the car enjoys a 46 percent loyalty rate.
It comes to Ireland this month. There will be three engines and three levels of specification. Fiat's slogan for the New Panda is 'Simply More'. And it is.
