Fiat Panda off sale in UK after 12 years

The fourth-generation Fiat Panda has been pulled from sale in the UK after 12 years, Autocar can reveal.

It ends a 21-year run for the Italian city car, which was one of a handful of models available for less than £15,000.

Only the Dacia Sandero and its smaller sibling, the electric Dacia Spring, can be had for less.

It will be replaced by the Grande Panda, a small SUV twinned with the new Citroën C3 offering a choice of mild-hybrid petrol and electric powertrains.

The EV is set to be one of the UK’s cheapest electric options when it arrives in December, at less than £22,000.

Autocar understands that UK dealer stock of the existing Panda is planned to last until the launch of the Grande Panda.

The number of examples left is surely severely limited, as fewer than 5000 Pandas have left showrooms across the nation since 2020.

Some 70,000 Fiat 500s were sold over the same period, of which 60,000 were of the older combustion-engined type.

It's possible that the Panda’s withdrawal from the UK market was also motivated by the introduction of the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. This effectively requires that car firms sell an increasing ratio of EVs in the UK annually, starting at 22% this year and rising to 80% in 2030.

Fiat’s ratio currently stands at around 10%. It recently cut the price of the electric 500e from £28,195 to £24,995 (or £21,995 if the brand’s ‘e-grant’ is included) to stimulate sales.

The Panda will remain available on the continent until the end of the decade, owing to its continued strong sales.

According to data from analyst Jato Dynamics, it was Europe’s 19th best-selling car during the first half of this year, with 76,450 examples leaving showrooms.

That’s 25% more than Fiat had sold by the same point in 2023 and outnumbers the combined sales of Fiat and Abarth 500s.

Fiat CEO Olivier François said in February that Panda production at Pomigliano d'Arco will rise by 20% this year to around 175,000, noting an increase in demand for the small hatchback in its native Italy.