Storytelling. That\u2019s what<\/span> Fiat CEO Olivier Francois says separates Fiat from the wave of affordable new (mostly) Chinese EVs<\/a>. He\u2019s quite the raconteur himself, has an Instagram teeming with A-list contacts<\/a>, and cheerfully admits that the new Grande Panda needs to be a blockbuster.<\/p>\n \u201cHeritage is key,\u201d he explains. \u201cOur design is rooted in our heritage, and that\u2019s not by chance. It\u2019s a good way of reassuring our customers. There are new brands but, hey, they come and they go. We\u2019ve been here for 125 years\u2014and we\u2019re here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n As with Renault\u2019s rapturously received new 5<\/a>, the Grande Panda pulses with a palpable confidence. With its \u201980s video-game-referencing pixel LEDs, chunky stance, and cheery color scheme (no gray, by order of its maker), the Panda manages to deliver a Proustian rush without looking lazily retro. Credit to exterior designer Francois Leboine and his team, it looks especially fresh on simple steel wheels. (Leboine, it\u2019s worth noting, did the R5 before leaving Renault.)<\/p>\n \u201cPanda\u201d is inscribed in low relief lettering on the side, in case you forget the name of the car, and these can be filled in with protective padding. The Fiat logo and four-bar monogram\u2014which arrived 40 years ago on the Uno\u2014are mixed and matched on the seats, door trims, and wheel arch surround and are laser-etched into the C pillar. Everyone involved, you sense, has brought their A game. Including those unsung heroes in the product planning department.<\/p>\n In the UK, prices for the Panda start at \u00a320,975 for the entry-level Red version, rising to \u00a324,000 for the top-spec La Prima model. A cheaper, 1.3-liter hybrid will be along soon, but for now the focus is on the fully electric model, with its circa 200-mile range. This, then, is the car that promises to do for the EV what the epochal Nuova 500<\/a> did for Italian mass mobility just as la dolce vita<\/em> was hovering into view in the late \u201950s.<\/p>\n Masterful packaging is part of its DNA, but the original 1980 Panda is the clearer inspiration for the new car. That was designed by the maestro Giorgetto Giugiaro, still alive and riding a trail bike aged 86, and a man who dismisses his contribution to automotive design as mere \u201cproblem solving.\u201d<\/p>\nUrban Utility<\/h2>\n
![\"Fiat](\"https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/67a63b82baed3d968fa58030\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/FIATGrandePanda%2520(6).jpg\")