Fiat has quietly revealed the final design for its upcoming Multiplina city car, which will feature retro styling cues and be around the same size as the 1950s 500, as part of its continued focus on small vehicles.
The new urban runabout was previewed in a single picture earlier this year, but has now made its debut on Fiat's stand at the Paris motor show, alongside the larger Multiplay concept which channels the spirit of the quirky 1990s Multipla MPV.
Due on sale in 2028, the Multiplina will sit above the Italian firm’s current two-seat Topolino but below the current Fiat 500 and an affordable electric city car due to be shown later this year.
Former Fiat boss Olivier François said recently that the Multiplina would “be super-important for us, because it's really the missing link between Topolino and the traditional city car”.
The new Multiplina concept takes its name from the 600 Multipla of 1956, which Fiat called the “original people mover”, but the firm also noted that it has a similar footprint to the 500 of 1957. That would make it just under three metres in length, compared with 2.53m for the Topolino.
While the Citroën Ami-based Topolino sits in the L6 quadricycle category, the Multiplina will be built to the L7 regulations, allowing it to be more powerful and faster.
The Topolino is limited to 28mph and gets a range of around 46 miles from a 5.4kWh battery, but Fiat claims the Multiplina will be able to reach a top speed of 55mph – the maximum allowed under the L7 regulations – and offer an “extended range”, which should make it a far more versatile offering, able to operate outside of city centres.
The Multiplina will use the same basic platform as the Topolino and the three-seat Tris commercial vehicle, but this will be extensively reworked to offer more space, range and a larger battery.
The styling of the new concept makes clear callbacks to the original 600 Multipla, including the overall silhouette, vertical nose and round headlights.
François said it would “play a lot on our DNA and be rooted in our style”, adding that it shows that “Fiat will be the brand within Stellantis that will really go all in on micromobility”.
The expansion into ‘urban mobility vehicles’ – the category below full-sized cars – is part of Fiat’s continued focus on small and affordable vehicles, centred around the existing 500 and Panda, the latter of which continues to be sold in Italy.
The forthcoming Grizzly is a Dacia Duster-rivalling C-segment SUV and will be the largest vehicle the firm will produce.
The Topolino was launched three years ago in Italy but is only now being introduced in the UK, where it will be priced from £8995.
Commercial division Fiat Professional also now offers the Tris, a three-wheeled commercial delivery vehicle
What was the original Multipla?
The original 600 Multipla was produced from 1956 until 1967, with Fiat shifting around 240,000 examples.
Described by Autocar in 1957 as “one of the most original and ingenious small car designs to appear since the war”, it featured the drivetrain from the 600 and the front suspension from the 1100.
It measured just 3531mm long yet could seat six people, in part because of its boxy design (we wrote that “the outline of the Multipla is no more than a modified rectangle” but praised its “attractive, chunky look”) and the fact the driver’s seat was located directly above the front axle.
Fiat subsequently revived the Multipla name for a radically styled – and much larger – Bravo-based MPV in 1998.