Next Fiat 500 range to expand with EV, wagon

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne has confirmed that Italian brand Fiat will introduce new pure-electric and all-new Giardiniera wagon versions of the next-generation Fiat 500, while dropping slow-selling vehicles in the range.

Announcing his plans for Fiat during a mid-term presentation to investors at Fiat's Balocco test track in Italy, Marchionne said that the future was bright for both the Fiat 500 and Panda, which is no longer sold in Australia, but the rest of the historic Italian brand's range will be dropped if if it doesn't pull its weight in terms of sales.

"Fiat in Europe is going to get redefined in a more exclusive area," Marchionne said: "It is difficult for the mass markets to be profitable, and in our plan we have identified areas where Fiat works best."

As part of his plans, the FCA CEO says the Fiat 500 will undergo a total revamp that will lead to the introduction of a new Fiat 500e in 2020.

Promising 60 per cent of all European FCA sales will be electrified models by 2022, Marchionne said future Fiat models would need to be more profitable to "recoup the cost of electric development."

To help achieve this, the Fiat 500 will spin-off a new retro-inspired Giardiniera model -- a small wagon that will come with a pure-electric powertrain.

The next Panda, meanwhile, will share the Fiat 500's new platform but miss out the advanced electrified powertrain to focus on "practicality and simplicity".

Instead, Marchionne said the small entry-level Fiat will come with an "affordable, eco-friendly combustion engine".

Other models in Fiat range face a less rosier future. The ancient Punto, for example, faces the chop while the Tipo hatchback and wagon that never made it Down Under could also face a premature death.