Fiat 500L

The Fiat 500L mini MPV won’t follow the 500X compact crossover to Australia, Fiat Chrysler Australia (FCA) has confirmed. Initially planned to go on sale in our market by the beginning of 2015, the 500L is now on the outer, with FCA director of marketing Zac Loo revealing the local division has decided the 500X is a better fit for our market.

The new high-riding 2015 Fiat 500X baby SUV has been teased ahead of its global reveal at the 2014 Paris motor show next month. A video released by Fiat Poland shows highlights of the new 500X’s design, including silhouettes of the baby SUV’s front, side and rear, offering an idea of how the new model – which shares its platform with the Jeep Renegade revealed earlier this year – will look.

The European boss of Abarth says the Italian tuning division is looking to expand its range and has hinted the Fiat 500L could be the next model to benefit from a high-performance overhaul. Abarth general manager Marco Magnanini told MSN Cars that Fiat's expanding model range offered fresh opportunities for his company to create new sports variants. “The 500 family will offer us options,” Magnanini said. “We want to take our brand values to other cars. In future it is possible.”

If you’re the kind of person who thinks the Mini Countryman is an oxymoronic abomination, you’re probably not going to be a fan of the upcoming Fiat 500XL. Revealed for the first time in these leaked patent images (published by Left Lane News), the 500XL is a slightly larger version of the Fiat 500L that was revealed at the 2012 Geneva motor show in March and is a chance to go on sale in Australia as early as next year.

We thought the Fiat 500L unveiled at the 2012 Geneva motor show would be the biggest member of the modern-day ‘Bambino’ family, but it looks as though a model called the Fiat 500X will take the honour. The X in Fiat 500X will stand for crossover, according to Fiat sources speaking with Automotive News. The industry journal reports that the 500X will pip the 500L five-door hatchback (main picture) by about 6cm in length to measure about 420cm.