New Panda goes on sale here

29 October 2003: Fiat’s new Panda has gone on sale in Ireland at a starting price of €10,995 with an initial choice of two petrol engines and the promise of a diesel to come.

There are three levels of specification - Active, Dynamic and Emotion. The entry-level Active has a 1.1-litre engine outputting 54bhp and achieving almost 50mpg.

The 60bhp 1.2-litre FIRE engine has been extensively upgraded, and offers fuel consumption in excess of the magic 50mpg figure.

The 1.3-litre Multijet small turbodiesel that is getting rave reviews in its Punto application and will also appear in a number of other manufacturers’ products will come in 2004. No price for it has as yet been revealed, but an educated guess would put it at around €14,000.

All versions of the New Panda are equipped with driver and front passenger airbags, and side airbags are optional with the 1.2litre versions.

Shortly the line-up will be joined by a 1.2 version with Dualogic Automatic transmission. A 4x4 version is also foreseen for the future.

©2003 irishcar.com