Paris show: Fiat’s 500X SUV snapped

AN UNOFFICAL image of the upcoming Fiat 500X has been leaked online ahead of its Paris motor show premiere next month.

Fiat released a teaser video for its sub-compact SUV a week ago, but the Italian car-maker has confirmed that the latest image that appeared on an internet forum has not been released by them.

GoAuto believes the photo to be real and possibly taken by an onlooker during a promotional photography shoot before being posted online.

Spy photos of the car have been circulating, but this is the first clear image of the 500X, revealing the an SUV that retains the 500 family face and shares the 500L’s high-riding look, but brings more rugged features such as muscular wheel arches with plastic guards, a robust-looking front bumper, roof rails and a rear spoiler.

Like its Jeep sister, the Renegade, the 500X will be built at Fiat’s Melfi plant in southern Italy and use a modified version of the Small Common Components and Systems (SCCS) platform that also underpins the 500L and Punto.

Expected to have an entry price starting from about $25,000, the 500X will go up against small SUV rivals such as the Ford EcoSport, Nissan Juke, Suzuki’s Vitara and Honda’s HR-V.

The base model is expected to be powered by Fiat’s TwinAir two-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. Moving further up the range will bring a choice of four-cylinder MultiAir turbo-petrol and MultiJet turbo-diesel engines.

While the 500X makes its motor show debut in Paris on October 2, Fiat Chrysler Group said the car go on sale in Australia until late in 2015 or early 2016. The 500X will join the expanding 500 line-up, the first model of which arrived as a retro-inspired take on the classic little Italian car in 2008.