Fiat 500 Fouristrada SUV on the way

The carmaker is following the theme of Mini by expanding its baby 500 model range and Fiat Australia says it "can't wait''.

Fiat sells three 500-based models here, including the hot-hatch Abarth, but gets the four-door 500L in August next year followed by the SUV version, dubbed the 500 Fouristrada, in 2014. 

The 500 SUV is the equivalent of the Mini Countryman, a high-riding all-wheel drive wagon that's based on a core three-door hatchback design. "We will look at everything that is coming up with a view to establishing its suitability for the Australian market,'' says Fiat Australia spokesperson Lenore Fletcher.

The 500 Gucci, a fashion-inspired special edition shown earlier this year at the Beijing motor show, is also on the cards. "Gucci represents a great partnership in style and it's on the cards. We're very interested in taking that for Australia and we see that theme extending to other partnerships with Italian companies.''

Ms Fletcher says Fiat-Chrysler Australia only has held the Fiat distributorship for three months and says business cases were still being built. But cars like a 500 SUV are "of extreme interest''. "The 500 is distinctive and very suited to city life,'' she says. "The bigger 500L is also definitely for Australia - it has great potential here.''

The 500 Fouristrada (Italian for all-road) was shown as a scale model by Fiat recently in Turin ahead of its planned production schedule. It has aggressive wheelarch cladding, a high ground clearance and stronger bumpers than the regular 500 hatch but retains the family nose.

The stretched model - now 4.2m long - will be available as a front-wheel drive or an on-demand all-wheel drive and powered by a choice of a 1-litre TwinAir or 1.4-litre petrol and some diesels. The two-cylinder TwinAir engine has already been engineered for all-wheel drive duty in Fiat's upcoming Panda 4x4.

A production-ready 500 Fouristrada concept is expected at next month's Paris motor show. Ms Fletcher says she hasn't heard about reports that Jeep may share the all-wheel drive 500 Fouristrada's platform to create an SUV beneath the size of the Compass.

Plans for a small Jeep - to be called the Jeepster or Scamp - were confirmed last year by Fiat-Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne who said a small, Fiat-based SUV was among three new SUVs planned to debut around 2013. The Fiat 500 family may also grow with the further additions of the XL seven-seater and a coupe version, the 500 Zagato, which is based on a concept car shown at the 2011 Geneva moor show.