Fiat is preparing the first mid-cycle
refresh of the Tipo family, and it might add a fourth body style in Europe,
after the hatchback, sedan and estate: the jacked-up Tipo Cross, if that’s the
official name anyway. Essentially a crossover variant of the five-door
hatchback, the Fiat Tipo “Cross” will rival the likes of the Ford Focus Active
and Kia XCeed in the European market.
We can’t tell for sure if the Tipo test
car pictured here is the actual Cross variant. The car appears to have plastic
cladding on the lower parts of the body, in addition to the redesigned front
and rear bumpers compared to the rest of the Tipo range, and completing the
design will be the elevated ground clearance and perhaps new wheels.
The new grille will be shared with the
regular 2021 Tipo lineup, and so will the headlamps and taillights, which
appear to have different graphics on the scooped prototype, unlike the previous
test car that we saw three months ago. We have yet to see the interior of the
facelifted compact car, but in all likelihood, it might get a new infotainment
system, probably with a larger display, and revised upholstery.
The engine lineup should carry over from
the current iteration, yet it’s unknown whether it will suffer any changes.
Thus, look for the 1.4-liter gasoline unit, in naturally aspirated and
turbocharged forms, as well as the 1.3- and 1.6-liter diesels, unless Fiat
decides to drop one of them.
