New sports car and budget range in Fiat's future plans

A four-strong line-up of Dacia-rivaling budget models and a Mazda MX-5-based sports car all included in Fiat's future model plans

Fiat will launch a new range of budget cars to target Dacia in Europe from late next year as part of a renewed assault on the European market.

The Fiat brand is also set to launch a new rear-wheel drive sports car twinned with the Mazda MX-5, a model originally destined to be an Alfa Romeo before a rethink of Alfa’s future strategy.

The new range of budget cars is set to start with a new saloon in late 2015 and will be followed by hatchback and estate versions in 2016. A compact budget SUV will follow in 2017.

The new plan revealed today by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) includes confirmation that the Fiat brand – in Europe particularly – is split in two, with a ‘rational’ range of models in the Panda mould on one side and a range of models in the 500 family on the ‘emotional’ side.

New models on the ‘rational’ side include the new four-model-strong budget car range, and a replacement for the Punto in 2016.

Whether or not these new models take the Panda name as more premium Fiats have taken the 500 name is unclear, with Fiat indicating the models will be positioned lower than the Panda.

On the ‘emotional’ side, a new compact SUV called Fiat 500X will launch later this year. It is a sister car to the Jeep Renegade.

Crowning the Fiat range is set to be the new compact sports car. This could also wear the 500 badge, or could take the Abarth name.

Reports emerged in February that FCA was set to drop this Japan-built sports car from the Alfa range and rebadge it as a Fiat or Abarth because it didn’t fit in with Alfa’s new ‘Made in Italy’ pledge.

The overall target is for Fiat to sell 1.9 million cars globally by 2018, up from the 1.5m sold last year. This includes a host of new models in key Fiat markets of Latin America and Asia-Pacific, as well as the launch of the 500X and new sports car in North America.

That growth is not expected to come from Europe, however, despite the increased model range. Fiat estimates its sales will flatline in Europe in 2018 at 700,000 units, the same as in 2013, due to increasing competition in the market place.

It spots the greatest growth potential in Asia-Pacific, where sales should grow from 70,000 units to 300,000 units due to a series of locally-targeted models, especially in China and India.

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