It's hard to imagine, but Fiat is rumored to be developing an even smaller car than the 500 and Panda. The new model would be a low-cost vehicle targeted at markets in South America, Russia, India and China.

Depending on how the Italian automaker determines a budget automobile would reflect on the company's other products, the vehicle could be marketed under the Fiat nameplate, or possibly under a different one altogether. If the company decides it will wear the Fiat badge, it could revive the Uno nameplate and effectively replace the Palio (pictured above), which currently serves as Fiat's "world car", with production in Brazil, India, Turkey, South Africa, North Korea and China, in hatchback, sedan, wagon and pickup body-styles. Fiat's close relations with Tata, makers of the Nano, could come into play, but one way or another, nobody does small cars like Fiat, so the competition had better take note.

[Source: paultan.org]

Fiat to produce budget car? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.