Fiat has started selling a passenger car in Israel for the first time in seven years, introducing the Grande Panda, a colorful supermini that shares a platform and components with the Citroën C3. The model arrives as Fiat, long associated in Israel mainly with commercial vehicles, expands its lineup after years focused on vans and light-duty models.
The Grande Panda is positioned above the C3 on price. In Israel, it starts at 119,000 shekels, which is 4,000 to 11,000 shekels more than the Citroën C3. Fiat last added new models after its cooperation with Peugeot-Citroën began reducing development costs through shared platforms, first with the Fiat 600 small crossover, which shares parts with the Peugeot 2008 but has not yet reached Israel, and then with the Grande Panda, unveiled in June 2024.
The car comes with a 1.2-liter turbocharged gasoline engine paired with a mild hybrid system, producing a combined 110 horsepower. Power goes through a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, with a claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 10 seconds and fuel consumption of 18.5 km per liter. Those figures are almost identical to the C3, but Fiat says the Grande Panda is slightly slower on paper by two-tenths of a second and less efficient by 1.5 km per liter.
Fiat is not importing the manual version sold with the C3, which has 101 horsepower, a six-speed manual gearbox, accelerates to 100 km/h in 10.6 seconds, and consumes 17.8 km per liter. The Grande Panda is being offered in Israel in two trim levels, Icon and La Prima.
