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Fiat has released photos of its new super-mini Uno, which will initially be produced in Brazil, and may, or may not, eventually be sold in Europe as well. The emphasis is on room and a “crossover look”, not unlike Toyota’s Urban Cruiser (Scion xD). It certainly isn’t on the handsome good looks Fiats were once known for. Times change.
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It looks like the car is choking on a bumper
Now I know why Fiat does not sell cars in the US.
Twotone
Incidentally, a small fleet of 500’s, sporting Michigan plates, was sighted driving around downtown Denver recently.
As ugly as the original. Hopefully they’re built better than before, I remember my Uno practically falling apart at 150000 km.
This one is uglier…
Falling apart at 150,000? Be happy it even ran as long.
The original Uno is considered by many down here as the real sucessor to the Fusca (Beetle). Cheap, easy on the gas and as easy to maintain and run and will last just as long. Many of them are on taxi duty down here and most taxi drivers drive their cars at least 250 000km to 300 000km before buying something new. When I ride in one I’m almost always surprised by the mileage and how well the car is in relation to said mileage.
It all depends on some basic maintenance.
And the driver.
“is expected to eventually replace the aging European Uno as well” wut?
AFAIK, the Uno has been out the European market for LOT of years (I’d guess 15+)
For the new Uno, which seems Panda based I have to say: POR FIN!!!!!, it was about time.
Edit: They’re still making the old one. In Brazil. Similar with VW and the Gol (yes it’s spelled correctly)
Thanks; I already tumbled to that with a little help; fixed.
Hello Stingray.
No, it’s not based on the Panda platform. It’s design sure is though.
This car actually rests on a modernized Palio-Punto hybrid platform (that underlays everything from the Palio to the Siena to the weekend to the Strada to the Idea to the Punto to the Linea).
@FromBrazil
I stated it seemed… because the body is very similar. Living there (you, I live up here in Venezuela) I’ll give the reason to you.
The Palio platform is based/derived/evolution of the original european Uno. And it has been used for many cars down here: Palio, Siena, Weekend, Strada, Idea and god knows what else. If used in this case, they finally put some “modern” underpinings on that thing.
From the pics I saw (here and in Fiat’s Brazil site) it looks like they’re using the same old brazilian Uno platform, which uses the rear transverse leaf spring. I’d love to see the car in person.
The interior plastics look craptastic in the pics. Even worse than the 1st gen Palio (which was an improvement).
I noticed the old one is still in production, like the Gol :)
Stingray:
You are absolutely correct as to the platform. What I tried to say though is that, though it is an evolution of the old Uno-Palio platform, it has been modernized with bits and pieces taken from the European Punto platform so now it’s a totally “new” platform. So much so that it is considered a viable export for Europe (the cars the rested on the pure older platform were not considered good enough for Europe).
Remember this car is bigger in all dimensions than the old Uno and Palio.
As to the plastic, I’ll withold judgment until I see them myself, but I’m sure they’ll be just as “good” as what’s on offer now. So far the press hasn’t complained so I think it’s safe to say the “quality” of the plastic will be tolerable.
As to the old Uno, called down here the Mille now (and has been for a while, at least officially, because people still call it an Uno), it’ll stay in production until at least 2013. From that point on all new cars in Brazil will have to come w/ airbags and Fiat would have to re-engineer the car ’cause they way it’s now it can’t take airbags. And said re-engineering would probably be too expensive to justify. From what I’ve heard, from 2013 on Fiat will launch “simplified” versions of this New Uno to cover the old Uno’s spot in the market.
And as to VW the Kombi (VW Bus) will die that year, too as it’s also not made to take airbags. And as to the Gol, the “market” will decide how long it lives. Though I anticipate it will be one the cars that will suffer most from competition from the New Uno. The New Uno is cheaper than the old Gol and may possibly kill it (unless fleet buyers keep buying them in large numbers). Volks will probably have to launch an “even more simplified” new Gol to compete with the New Uno. Or some say they have plans to launch a smaller car than the Gol to com-pete with the Uno, letting the Gol battle it out with the Palio. But if that is true, it’s probably a few years away (Volks dragging its feet again, getting beat again – that’s how they lost 1st place in our market and might lose 2nd place to GM. So far this year everybody is growing in sales except VW which is selling only at the same rate as last year, when they played all their cards, I mean launched all their new cars. Seemingly there is nothing in the pipeline now).
They’ve usually kept an older version (1 or 2 gens old) on sale in parallel with the current one. They dashboard and interior always is the same as the 1st-2nd gen Palio.
I guess that car will take the place of the current Uno in the future.
After Fiat stopped assembling cars here, they imported them from Brazil, and your Mille (because of the 1.0 engine) continued to be badged Uno here.
Let’s see if we can see this car in the future here.
How many units does the Mille move down there?
Stingray:
Yes that’s the strategy. Though they always change the look of the gauges and the lighting. My 2nd generation Palio has, for example, a silver plastic thing covering the gauges and the central stack, plus the lighting is red/orange and not green/red. And the instruments have different lettering and layout. To keep it interesting so to speak, and that the guy who goes buy a new one, finds something different that from the one he bought 3 or 4 years ago (different frm GM that until recently, if you bought a 2009 Corsa Sedan Classic, it’d look inside exactly like a 99 model).
As to sales, March top ten (sorry haven’t seen April breakdown, yet, but it’ll probably be very similar except for the Chevy Celta, which was a fluke at number 2. Usually it comes in at numer 4 ot 5, but GM was having a big promotion to move all the old models and it certainly influenced the numbers, not to mention a huge sale to a rental car company and gv agencies)
1 – VW Gol 29,343
2 – Chevy Celta 19,994 (FLUKE)
3 – Fiat Palio 18,365
4 – Fiat Uno Mille (only old model) 16,013
5 – VW Fox/Crossfox 15,075
6 – Fiat Siena 12,913
7 – Chevy Corsa Sedan/Classic (two models, same name, one old, one less old) 12,332
8 – Ford Fiesta 10,907
9 – Fiat Strada 10,181
10 – Ford Ka 10,112
Bear in mind though, this was the best month ever in sales. It was the last month of the incentive program so some numbers are artificially hihg because of it. Also, Fiesta in the top 10 is also a fluke because they were slashing prices on them to make way for the a facelifted old model.
But anyway you get an idea.
As to Brands, accumulated participation in 2010:
1 – Fiat 22.32%
2 – Chevy 20.85% (fluke?? Normally VW is 2nd. But may be a sign of a permanent change)
3 – VW 20.21%
4 – Ford 10.96%
5 – Renault 4.54%
6 – honda 4.15%
7 – Hyundai 3.32% (surprise! Overtakes Toyota and PSA twins)
8 – Toyota 2.98%
9 – Peugeot 2.75%
10- Citroën 2.28%
11- Kia 1.45% (another surprise from a company w/ less than 1% last year)
12 – Others 4.19% (chiefly but not in order Audi, M-B, BMW, Mitsu, Nissan among other even smaller Suzuki, some Chinese, Jags etc.)
It’s not a surprise Fiat is Nº 1 there. 4 of the 10 best cars are from them.
And almost all are derivatives of the Palio platform. Right sized and continuosly facelifted/improved every 2 years more or less (this is from watching the .br site).
It would be nice to see how they individually behave in their segments, but will not ask that.
People from here would be surprised to see Toyota’s share. I guess they’re ridiculously expensive like here.
The facelift on the Classic looks nice. Externally I like it better than the Mexican one (Chevy C2). However, the Mexican dashboard is better.
Stingray: “It would be nice to see how they individually behave in their segments, but will not ask that.”
What do you mean exactly? Be happy to help if I could.
As to the Chevy, yes it looks pleasent enough. Outside. Though it’s just a copy of the Chinese Chevy Sail, which they modernized then sent the tools to Brazil to make the new front and back. Imaginem in the past we’d get old machinery and stuff from Europe or US. Now we’re getting it from China. And the interior is horrid I agree ’cause they didn’t spent a cent there. It’s design is circa 1992!
Yech; that’s ugly.
It looks like a truckish Aveo…what the Granite should be.
Obviously, Fiat has detached the designers of the Multipla to Brazil. Great improvement, but still ugly.
Don’t think they should be allowed to put the tail lights each side of the rear window , makes it unpleasant to follow at night. And the windscreen pillars are dangerously wide at the bottom.Would only be safe in a world without cyclists or pedestrians.
As to the lights: have you never been behind a Volvo? Or a Chevy Meriva? Corsa hatch? Focus hatch? Fiat Punto? Doesn’t bother me.
As to the pillars I agree. But this “trend” could be blamed on the 1st Golf, maybe? From what I’ve heard this kind of thick pillar gives the buyer the sensation the car is rugged and tough. Though it certainly penalizes the driver. Glad there’s a lot of glass on the sides. No gun slit windows here mercifully.
CR-V tailights?
Did Fiat hire laid-off GM body cladding designers?
The world’s foremost experts on plastic body cladding became available when GM axed Pontiac. It’s good to see they’ve found gainful employment elsewhere.
It’s a market thing down here. Supposedly it makes the car look like an SUV, which fad has not been gotten over here. Fiat launched the whole thing maybe 10 years back w/ its Palio station wagon (inspired by Volvo). And up to a point it worked. Later everybody got in on the act and though it relatively works on station wagons and mi9nivans and pickups. on such small cars as these I agree, it’s pathetic.
It has always been pathetic. I saw the 1st Palio Adventure and still can’t stomach the SUV-Fad looks.
I actually like it. It seems similar to the Cube and to the Kia Soul. Dodge would do well having a cool car like this in its line-up.
This design looks very old, at least 8-10 years. The plastic body cladding helps do that. There is nothing new or fresh. The tall hood over the long front overhang and the tiny wheels create a visually disproportioned and unattractive exterior.
I bet it is roomy, Italians are good at ergonomics.
Will it make it to US as a Jeep? Well, half of their grill is there.
Couldn’t disagree more sir. On cars of this size what looks out of place are big wheels (I’m looking at you Mini and Smart). They make the ride harsher and take up space in the footwell, forcing the pedals together and not giving enough space for a foot rest, for example. And the car is supposed to be cheap and easy to maintain. Have you seen the price of tyres lately? Specifically in Brazil they are at least 2 or 3 times more expensive than in America (for the same rim size). The buyer of this car will not tolerate that.
I disagree. Larger wheels on smaller cars look pretty good to me. The Aveo we get here is pitiful looking while the Mini is much better. My own ’97 VW Cabrio would benefit from larger 15″ wheels.
I agree that the width really wastes alot of space. I’d prefer tall and skinny (15″) to short and skinny (13″) as typically found on cheaper cars here.
Ok Mr. Joeaverage I agree with you. I think my car would benefit from 14 inch wheels, too, instead of the 13 ones it has. But they’d have to be wider, too, or else wouldn’t the ride become worse?
What I was referring to was sticking 17 or 16 or even 15 inch wheels in small cars. I think 15 is the limit. Bigger than that doesn’t float my goat.
Case in point, my wife has a Renault Logan. And Mom has a Renault Sandero. They are basically the same car except my wife’s a sedan and mom’s a hatch. The Logan has 14 inchers and the Sandero has 15. In my eyes the 14 inchers look better (and these cars are much bigger that either the New Uno or Mini).
Okay – I know what you mean. I’m thinking of 14″ wheels that I have seen many times on an aircooled Beetle. The original 15″ wheels looked much better. I don’t particularly like little wheels and big tires. There is a sweet spot. GRIN!
Needs fins…
Mr. P Niedermeyer: “It certainly isn’t on the handsome good looks Fiats were once known for.”
Couldn’t agree more. But the dirty little secret to this kind of car in Brazil is that it must be a jack of all trades. Though treated by the press as an urban car the fact is that this is the 1st and only car of many families. Or the second car of many other families, who will have a car not much bigger. It’s a school runner, a grocery getter, a plumber’s car, a student’s car, a moving motel, a road warrior.
So it’s shape is very welcome. From what I’ve read it’s not only longer and taller than its predecessor, but also 9cm wider. That means a lot of opened up space in a small piece of real estate. And many brothers and sisters will greatly appreciate it, not to mention their parents w/ the added peace (remembering here your own memmories).
BTW it’ll be launched this weekend. And believe me, there’ll be lines. The dealers will be packed. The press have been panting for this car for months. The public is eagerly waiting for it. It’s the most researched car on any Brazilian site.
It’ll be a great success. It’s priced right (Fiat is being very aggressive on pricing, kudos to them). It’s the right car for the times. And to Brazilian eyes it looks modern. And Brazilians are suckers to anything that looks modern. It’ll help Fiat pull away from GM and Volks, which have been lapping at its heels (Fiat 22% market share and GM and VW tied at 20%). The people at Fiat anticipate that this car alone will bring their market share up to 25%. And to do that it’ll have to rob some share from VW and GM. I agree w/ them. I expect that’ll be exactly what will happen.
As you can gauge I’m excited about this car. It’ll all new. New engines and all. It’s very roomy and compact. Though like I’ve said before I’ve been convinced by Steve Lang and will run my current car for many more years (a Fiat Palio), this car sorely tempts me. It’s been a while since we got a car in Brazil that tempts me so. Maybe in a couple of years. I’m trying hard to resist.
BTW, full disclosure: I do not work at Fiat nor any of their suppliers. But like General Malise said on another post Fiats work for me. And have done so for many years. And better than similar cars form competitors.
And Mr. Paul, I’ll reinforce what some other poster has aked for on another thread, isn’t it time to put a little Fiat logo at the bottom of the page. We surely have been talking about them a lot.
Thanks in advance.
My mom has a 1998 Fiat Siena EDX 1.3lts which CKD came from Brazil. It currently have 350K kms on its original engine.
Rugged and comfortable. Nice handling (when new), underpowered.
The old Uno is nearly indestructible.
Both of them are cheap and easy to fix. The Siena parts were CHEAP when I was in charge of its maintenance, and continue to be so.
Ah, and you can find parts near everywhere.
*Wincing*
Trying to picture this with Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram badging…