First look: Fun Fiats we are denied

FIAT’S product-led comeback is well under way with two production-certain concepts – the Trepiuno and the Idea 5Terra – and a thoroughly made-over Multipla debuting at the Geneva motor show.

But Australia is still at least three years away from seeing a passenger car assault from the recovering Italian automotive giant.

According to Fiat importer Ateco Automotive, an unfavourable currency exchange is the main hold-up.

"The weak Australian dollar against the Euro just doesn’t make it viable," said Ateco PR manager Edward Rowe.

"And it won’t happen until the dollar rises well into the mid-60 cents Euro level." Mr Rowe said there needed to be a profit margin for launching an all-new vehicle, as well as in its sale.

But he insists that Fiat cars will be available locally inside the next decade.

In the meantime, here’s what the Turin-based organisation has been up to at this month’s Geneva motor show.

FIAT TREPIUNO

FIAT all but stole the Swiss show with its Trepiuno concept car.

Aping the 1957-1975, four million-selling, rear-wheel drive, air-cooled Nuovo Cinquecento (“New 500”) in its design and proportion, the Trepiuno is tipped for a 2007 European release.

And, pending a stronger Australian dollar against the bullish Euro, local buyers may get a chance to sample the Trepiuno inside four years.

Built on the well-received front-wheel drive (and front engined!) Panda II platform, the 3.3-metre concept carries over signature Nuovo Cinquecento styling themes such as the domed-roof profile, high window waistline, large round headlights, no grille and wheels-at-each-corner stance.

The four-seater (three plus one occasional rear passenger) cabin’s retro theme continues with a simple instrumentation binnacle with very 1950s colour co-ordination.

But Fiat claims function has not been sacrificed for form, with no retro motif re-used in the Trepiuno without careful practical consideration first.

The 21st Century cues include advanced LED supplementary and cabin lighting, a touch-sensitive LCD console display, a BMW iDrive-like control between the seats, space-saving super-thin polyurethane seats, multi-configurable rear seating and cargo carrying arrangements.

The windscreen-to-rear window glass roof pane is likely to disappear from the production version, as will the front passenger facia that deflates for greater legroom.

Like Ford’s "Living Legends" theme that’s behind the recent Thunderbird and 2005 Mustang models, "Back to the Future" is the Fiat’s catch-cry for the Trepiuno.

It is the firm’s first production-bound retro car now that the Frankfurt show-stopping Lancia Fulvia concept will not be manufactured.

FIAT IDEA 5TERRE

THE Fiat Idea 5Terre is a latter-day response to the visionary Honda HR-V, but without the four-wheel drive despite the macho off-roader appearance.

Although as yet unconfirmed for production, Fiat is expected to release the Idea 5Terre across Europe in the first half of next year.

Sitting below the likes of the Renault Scenic RX4, the front-wheel drive 5Terre features Audi Allroad-like plastic cladding, beefed-up bodywork, aluminium-like detailing and jacked-up SUV styling.

The 5Terre Concept’s fanciful cabin features include cocoanut-clad floor matting, soft and porous "moss" effect upper-dash parts, lashings of metallic trim and marble-style upholstery.

The model's name comes from the Cinque Terre ("Five Lands"), the mountainous Mediterranean coastal region of northwest Italy defined by five remote villages.

The 5Terra is based on the Idea, a recently released five-seat mini-compact MPV spun off the present (circa 1999) Punto II light car platform.

The Idea competes in an emerging segment in Europe currently populated by the Ford Fiesta-derived Fusion, Opel Barina-based Meriva and the production version of the Geneva-show starring Renault Modus.

The latter is due to debut at the Birmingham motor show in May. It will be the first outing for October’s still-secret Clio Mk3 range that’s been co-conceived with the Nissan Micra Mk3 unseen locally.

FIAT MULTIPLA

AFTER just three years, the Fiat Multipla has had massive facial reconstruction.

The squared-off snub-nosed facelift includes the appearance of a grille, new bumpers and a tail-light redesign.

The Multipla makeover eschews its 2000-era predecessor’s unique eight-light tri-level front-end visage for an utterly conventional, mainstream-appealing Daewoo-like look.

The made-over Multipla goes on sale soon across the Continent from mid-year, with no plans to bring it to Australia.

But the old Multipla’s midriff remains intact, so its class-leading space and uncommonly versatile 3+3 seating arrangement – a corollary of its unusually broad 1871mm width – remains, with only minor alterations to trim levels.

It marks the end of Fiat’s remarkably brave but misguided attempt to crash the booming compact-MPV market dominated in Europe by the pioneering Renault Scenic, Opel Zafira and Citroen Picasso with an outstandingly functional (and truly distinctive) design.

When Fiat first unveiled the Multipla in the late 1990s, it was hoping for a slice of the Scenic’s booming annual sales tally.

Last year the Scenic secured 300,000 buyers, in contrast to the Multipla’s 21,742. Fiat blames the controversial styling.