Fiat's new compact will be called Argo once again and marketing experts explain the Italian brand's decision
The Fiat Grande Panda will be called Argo. It’s more than decided, even if many people disagree, even within the halls of Stellantis. The brand’s CEO for Europe, François Olivier, was the one who crossed the surprise about two weeks ago.
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The spoiler generated reactions, many people bet that the car could be called Panda or even Uno. But it seems to be Argo and that’s the end of the conversation. The stir was due to the bold proposal of the project. In Europe, the Big Panda marked the arrival of a new family of products, with cubist design.
Here the same proposal will be applied and will give life to future generations of Fastback and Toro (or Strada), as well as two other models. But for the European public Great Panda is a continuation of a car that has been in line for more than 40 years. Today, the model coexists with the past generation, called only Panda.
And as the design is a futuristic reinterpretation of the original generation, an expectation arose around the name, since the shape differs greatly from the Argo we know. But is choosing a name so difficult?
Although the logic is simple, there is a delicate equation when choosing the name of a car. Baptism can add or take away value. In the case of the Argo, Fiat bet on safe and consolidated. She doesn’t want to make a big effort to build the name Grande Panda, which means nothing to the Brazilian public, or another unpublished name. And she also doesn’t want to go down a step naming the car with a popular car name from the past, which is the case of Uno, as many bet.
In the corridors of Fiat, the Frenchman’s “crossing” did not please the executives, who try to talk about the subject. However, some comment (without confirming) that Argo is a consolidated and strong name in the Brazilian market. A car that arrived in 2017 to mark a profound change in Fiat’s strategy, in the same way as Panda, in the Old World. “The name change could imply the devaluation of the current Argo, which is a car that has a very high turnover in rental companies. Besides, it’s a sales success,” stammered one of our sources, without ratifying, or not, Monsieur Olivier’s spoiler.
And it makes perfect sense, the Argo licensed 102 units in 2025 and was the third best-selling model in Brazil, behind only its sister Strada and the Volkswagen Polo. Of this total, about 70% of sales were concentrated in the direct sales modality. In other words, fleet owners and rental companies bought the hatch in droves and do not want to lose money with a sharp devaluation due to the death of the name. If that happens, tomorrow they will buy competitor models with a lower devaluation rate and Fiat will suffer a gigantic drop in volume.
To better understand the importance of naming a new car, we talked to two marketing experts who know in depth the innards of the Italian brand installed in Betim (MG) 50 years ago. Murilo Moreno, consultant at Sequoia Strategy and Marketing, has extensive experience in the automotive industry, the “father” of the “cursed ponies” has already worked at Fiat and understands very well how to choose a name for a new car.
Asked if he keeps a current name, rescues a classic name, or bets on a new name, the specialist explains in a didactic way. “When planning a new car there are two factors: what the brand needs and what the market expects. When the Argo replaced the Palio, the brand had to say that it was another car, which was at a higher level. At that moment she began to tell a new story. Now she wants to continue the story about a strong product,” he explains.
Moreno also points out the client’s side. “On the other hand, as a customer, I have an expectation that the car will be a continuation so as not to devalue the car that is being discontinued, or because my connection with that car is very strong”, he points out, following the same logic as our Stellantis source, since the customer is at the same time an individual or a large company that buys thousands of units a year.
Asked if the Argo could not call Panda, Moreno is emphatic. “What is Panda? Panda is a strong name in Europe, but it means nothing to the Brazilian consumer. It would take a lot of effort to build Panda’s message. And with Argo, the message is consolidated, it doesn’t make sense”, he points out.
And why not Uno? We took this question to Adriano Resende, who was head of brand at Fiat, today he is director of marketing and strategies at Grupo Suport. “It makes no sense to rescue the name Uno, which is in the past. In 2009 it made perfect sense, as the Uno was a car that sold a lot and the second generation arrived making a big bang. One of the names quoted would be Boxer, but at that moment it made sense to continue with the story and use Uno, but not today. Today the Argo is this successful car, the modern car and keeping its name only reinforces the trajectory”, explains Resende, who was present both at the launch of the second generation of the Uno and at the arrival of the Argo.
That is, if Fiat will change the name of the new Argo at 45 in the second half, we will only know on the day of launch, but judging by what current executives and marketing experts point out, it’s Argo and that’s it.
