Fiat Koala cheap EV on the cards
Italy’s upcoming city car borrows a marsupial name and is expected to leverage cost-effective Citroen 2CV’s underpinningsThe News
Fiat has confirmed it is developing a small, affordable electric city car, and it will be called the Koala.
The new model will be built to Europe's upcoming E-Car rules for budget EVs and it's expected to cost less than A$27,000 (€15,000). It will sit below the Grande Panda and Grizzly in Fiat's line-up, and it will go head-to-head with the reborn Citroen 2CV. New Fiat CEO Arnaud Belloni confirmed the name at the Paris motor show.
The Key Details
- Fiat has trademarked the Koala name for a new city EV
- Priced under €15,000 (about A$27,000) and built to Europe’s new E-Car rules
- Will sit below the Grande Panda and Grizzly in Fiat’s line-up
- Styling takes 'a very different approach' to the retro 2CV
- Expected to arrive around 2028
The Finer Details
An all-new compact car that bears an iconic marsupial name has all but been confirmed for Europe.
“Koala now belongs to Fiat. We have a Koala, a Panda and a Grizzly,” new Fiat, Abarth and Lancia CEO Arnaud Belloni told Autocar at the 2026 Paris motor show.
Belloni recently took over from Olivier Francois and told Autocar: “We are working on a few cars based on the E-car platform.
"We are preparing a small car which will be based on the 2CV, and it’s going to be a ‘wow’.”
The Koala will slot beneath the Grande Panda and the Grizzly, and is tipped to be a fully electric alternative to the petrol-powered Pandina. That little battler has been around since 2011 but still sells like hot pies in Italy.
Europe’s E-Car class sits a rung above heavy quadricycles like the Fiat Topolino and unlike the style-led Fiat 500, the Koala will lean harder into practicality.
Fiat design boss François Leboine said the Koala is about as far along as the 2CV, but Paris wasn’t “the right moment” to pull the covers off. Don’t expect a rehash of the past either – some ideas may come from an Italian university design contest won by a boxy three-seat concept called the Ippo.
“We are quite happy with what we have, but I cannot say more,” Leboine said.
The Road Ahead
Going by the 2CV’s timeline, the Koala should land by about 2028, with Fiat promising a reveal “at a good moment”.
Will it come Down Under? Don’t hold your breath.
Fiat’s local range has shrunk to almost nothing and E-Car models are built around European rules. Still, a Koala that never makes it to Australia would be a crying shame.
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