Fiat Egea review, test drive

What is it?

We have here Fiat’s new sedan which will replace not one, but many of its offerings globally. With this new model, Fiat is set to make a comeback to the global mass market sedan arena, and in a big way.  The car you see here, a functional, compact three-box sedan, forms the basis of a new three-car family that Fiat has created for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

First to be released is this saloon, badged Egea in the Turkish market, which is where it’s built. For the UK and mainland Europe markets, however, Fiat is reviving the Tipo nameplate (from the late 1980s and early 1990s) and has set-up additional five-door hatch and wagon versions which are yet to be revealed, to be sold alongside the four-door. While this new sedan is out now, the coming hatch and wagon editions are set to appear at the Geneva show next spring.

At a private showing at Fiat’s Design Centre in Turin, folks from our sister magazine, Autocar UK, have seen all three versions of the new Egea/Tipo series. While the hatch and wagon remain officially under wraps, the Egea saloon is now ‘live’ (it was actually unveiled at the Istanbul motor show back in May). We’ve also had a spell behind the wheel.

Designed around the brief ‘Skills not Frills’ and claiming to provide class-topping roominess, boot capacity and value for money, Fiat’s newcomer is based on the same platform used by the Jeep Renegade. Up front, there’s an orthodox mix of 1.4-litre (94bhp) and 1.6-litre (108bhp) petrol Fiat group engines, along with 1.3-litre (94bhp) and 1.6-litre (118bhp) Multijet II diesels.

This Egea saloon, with more than 500 litres of boot capacity, stands a lengthier 4.54 metres from stem to stern.  At a time when Fiat is dividing up and reassessing its model range internationally as either ‘aspirational’ (500, 124 Spider) or ‘functional’ (Panda and Doblo), there’s no doubt into which camp this new sedan