It’s been five years since the Fiat 500L was launched to take on the likes of the MINI Countryman, wearing much of the 500 hatchback’s looks albeit based on a stretched Fiat Punto platform. Here the facelifted car is spotted in camouflage foil, and although most of the fundamental shape stays, detail changes can be expected for the mid-lifecycle update.
Taping patterns around the test mule’s headlamps and auxiliary lamps suggest these areas are ripe for updates come facelift time, while the front fascia reveals a grille that will adopt a larger opening with twin slats, compared to the previous model’s more slender aperture with a single dividing slat.
Here, the facelifted 500L wears a honeycomb lower grille with side intakes from the 500L Trekking, along with the dark plastic cladding around the wheel arches also from the Trekking variant. The dual A-pillar design at the front is retained, while along its sides, the exterior door garnish pieces appear to have been relocated lower, closer towards the door sills.
Around the back, the C- and D-pillars appear to be unchanged on the test mule despite the foil, though the changes slightly below that are more apparent; the tail lamp housings appear to protrude further than before on the current 500L. Further down, the 500L’s rear fog lamps have been relocated to the bottom edges of the rear bumper, down from their position on the current model, in line with the license plate.
Changes to the 500L’s interior remains to be seen, however the upsized compact Fiat is expected to be available with engines of similar capacities as the current range; at present, there is a 105 hp 0.9 litre TwinAir turbo and and 105 hp 1.4 litre engine, along with 85 hp 1.3 litre and 105 hp 1.6 litre diesel units.
GALLERY: Fiat 500L
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Fiat, please come to 21st century of car making where my glorious jepunis celup just use VR to test our car