One of my brothers has three Fiat Pandas, writes Brian Byrne. Has had for a long time. I'm not sure what age they are, but they weren't young when he bought them. I think two of them might still be running, the third slowly being cannibalised for parts. He'll admit that he now won't trust one for a long journey, and will hire a car for that when necessary (and he and his wife now regularly ride electric bicycles around their quite rural south of England home place). But the Pandas have served the couple and the four daughters they raised very well indeed, and if the cars could talk, they'd speak of many adventures with their family of young and older drivers.
I was reminded of all that with the recent launch in Ireland of the new Grande Panda. A car on which Fiat is pinning its future as a viable car brand. After a couple of years of serious difficulty in its home Europe — a 25 per cent drop in sales in 2025 alone — following an even longer period of stagantion it Italy itself, the first results for 2026 are indicating a rebound. Largely due to the Grande Panda, introduced in its first markets in January 2025.
In Ireland, where Fiat sales all but collapsed before the franchise was taken up by Gowan Auto, the outgoing Panda was its best seller over the last two years, albeit in a very tiny market share for the brand. The Grande Panda is Fiat Ireland's great hope.
I got to drive it first during the recent week of chaos on Ireland's roads. In the process of avoiding a number of potential blockages, I brought it through a mix of various suburban backwaters, on some quite dodgy road surfaces, as well as dozens of traffic-slowing bumps, and eventually for a run on a fairly clear motorway. Two things became very clear: the car is fun in style and performance, and its increase to 'Grande' size from a city A-segment to a B-segment small SUV is, in fact, a game-changer for the model.
The stylists reached back to the boxy shape of the original 1980 Panda, which in subsequent generations became more rounded in style. Now, deliberately as a small SUV, the squareness is back but with modern design elements, some of them cheerfully idiosyncratic. Sometimes, it's not all about technology — in today's generally dismal driving conditions, a car that can periodically make you smile is something to be valued.
The stance is 'let's go'. The edginess is tempered by subtle sculpting and some simple curving in the fascia. The chunkiness of the rear makes it look strong, and the lights front and rear are quirky, LED tech in a 'pixel art' reflection of the 1980s. The model name is embossed large on the sides, and the Fiat brand similarly so on the rear. Say it loud, say it clear.
That relatively tall style also makes the car easier to get in and out of, something this lanky and no-longer-so-supple writer appreciates. Once in, there's also stuff to smile about. Cheerful, brash colours of blue, black, yellow, gold and grey. Funky design of the entertainment and information parts of the dashboard. Bamboo-style dashboard and glove box elements that do, in fact, have 30 per cent of that sustainable material in the mix of what they are made from. In addition, about 17 recycled Tetra-Pak milk and juice containers are used in each car as recycled material for the interior door panels and other areas.
There's a roominess which previous Panda owners will not have experienced, and the Granda Panda is a 5-seater, provided those in the back are not a trio of front-row scrum types. The boot capacity varies between 361L and 412L — the smaller capacity is on the electric version.
The electric and a mild-hybrid are the two available powertrains at this launch point. The former is a BEV with a range of around 320km, and the hybrid is the familiar Stellantis unit with a 110hp 3-pot petrol and a 6-speed dual clutch auto. A 400km version of the BEV is coming early next year, and there will also be a manual transmission petrol car at some stage.
There are three grades: the base Pop is only available with the electric car, which comes with just a phone dock for connectivity. There's the mid-range Icon with both powertrains, and a La Prima top grade that offers such niceties as rear view camera, roof rails, privacy glass and power-fold mirrors. (It's far from any of those my brother's daughters learned to drive with ...)
Sometimes, at a short launch drive, you come away wondering if you have enough to make a decision on a car. Often as not, it's a "well, let's wait and see." Somewhow, though, the vibe from the Grande Panda has me already in a positive humour. When a car leaves you smiling, it's in line for a win.
PRICE: From €22,995 (electric) and €25,800 (hybrid). WHAT I LIKED: Quirky and colourful will always make me smile.
