Fiat unveils the city slicker with MPV-like space

FIAT has stretched its hugely successful city car to make it a more practical proposition for families.

Called the 500L, with the L standing for large, the model has been designed to offer MPV-like space for passengers.

The Fiat 500L is longer, wider and higher than the regular hatchback version of the model with the three-way stretch turning it into a good five-seater. UK dealers are likely to have to wait until early 2013 to get their hands on the model which makes its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

It will make its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month with sales in Europe starting towards the end of the year. UK dealers are likely to get the car early 2013.

The 500L will give Fiat an interesting range of city cars as it lines up alongside the regular hatchback, the cabrio version and the sporty Abarth examples to enable the brand to satisfy a broad cross-section of drivers.

The firm talks of the model offering MPV-like passenger space combined with the feel of a small SUV on the road and the restrained dimensions and efficiency of a B segment car.

"With the 500L, the Fiat brand demonstrates its creative spirit once more," said a spokesman.

The car is very much a marriage of functionality and emotion and is a further development of 'cab forward' concept introduced by Fiat with the 600 Multipla of the 1950s and 60s, a car widely considered as a precursor to the concept of the compact people carrier.

The 500L will be produced at the Fiat factory in Kragujevac, Serbia and will be offered with both petrol and diesel engines. The petrol burners will include a TwinAir power plant and a 1.4-litre engine.

Fiat says the new Panda on sale from the end of the month will be priced from £8,900 to £12,250. Topping the range will be a highly specified version equipped with Fiat's 1.3 MultiJet 2 turbodiesel engine and a Start&Stop bringing lower emissions in tandem with outstanding economy. There will be Pop, Easy and Lounge versions.