Fiat Grande Panda: orders soar, delivery times get even longer

There are cars that create waiting. And there are those that prolong it. Presented in summer 2024, tested in early 2025the Fiat Grande Panda has been in the news ever since. But this time, it's not for its neo-retro design or its attractive price/performance ratio, but for its increasingly long delivery times... again.

Strong demand, but production struggling

Remember: in February 2025We already announced that the first Grande Panda models, ordered in January, would arrive in the spring. Now, as we enter the month of April.., Fiat is still struggling to deliver. The reason? Production is unable to keep pace with higher-than-expected demand.

Produced in Serbia, at the Kragujevac plant, the Grande Panda was to benefit from a gradual ramp-up. In reality, however, the ramp-up is slow. According to our information, current production is running at 80 to 100 vehicles a day, a far cry from the 500 daily units targeted by Stellantis. As a result, only a few vehicles were delivered at the end of March, and the bulk of current orders are expected... before the summer.

Italian workers sent in as reinforcements

Faced with this situation, Stellantis was forced to take an unprecedented step: sending Italian workers to Serbia. The aim? To fill the local labor shortage, estimated at over 1,000 positions. Despite local recruitment campaigns, candidates are not rushing in.

Initially offered to employees of the Maserati plant in ModenaThe mission was not well received by some. But Stellantis extended the offer to other sites, such as Melfi, where volumes fell by 64 % in the first quarter of 2025. Workers finally agreed, on a voluntary basis, to move to Kragujevac for six months, with accommodation, meals, travel taken care of, and an allowance in excess of €100 per day.

Exploding lead times, especially for hybrids

Today, you have to be patient to get behind the wheel of a Grande Panda. According to an Italpassion source, deliveries are starting slowly.

we started delivering our 1st stock at the end of March (a few vehicles). The bulk of the vehicles currently on order will arrive before the summer. Today's delivery times: August for a large panda bev / November for a large panda mhev.

For a Fiat Grande Panda ordered in April 2025, lead times now vary considerably depending on the version:

• August 2025 for an electric Fiat Grande Panda (BEV)
• November 2025 for a hybrid Grande Panda

The difference is partly due to supply problems. The eDCT gearboxes required for hybrid versions are currently in short supply, which is holding back production considerably.

An emergency for Fiat

For Fiat, the situation is becoming strategic. The Grande Panda is supposed to relaunch the Fiat brand, which is in the red in Europe. Nonetheless, it seems to be a commercial success, and the brand will soon be launching the in South America, with production in Braziland North Africa with production in Algeria.