Fiat Multiplay concept revives the Multipla for Paris

Fiat is bringing back the Multipla name, or something close to it, with a concept called Multiplay that will debut at the Paris Motor Show this month.

The 1998 Multipla was routinely voted among the ugliest cars ever made, but those who drove it tended to come away converted by its six seats in two rows of three, its huge glasshouse and its sheer common sense. Our own EV editor Gavin Shoebridge was once firmly in the first camp and said so on camera. He has since come around, and now considers it one of the most beautiful cars ever built.

Fiat has released a single teaser image. It shows little of the overall shape, focusing on an oval insert on the side of the vehicle with a black patterned section and a body-coloured panel carrying the silhouettes of the two earlier Multiplas.

Fiat calls Multiplay more than a concept car, describing it as a “new concept of mobility” that is “flexible, accessible, and radically useful”. It says the vehicle combines the open load space and outdoor versatility of a pickup with the comfort and flexibility of an SUV, switching between the two in a few movements via what it calls an ingenious mechanism. It has not said how the mechanism works or which parts of the vehicle move.

Fiat says the concept is a source of inspiration for future products that will complete its affordable family vehicle range. It has not confirmed a production version, and has released no dimensions or powertrain details for Multiplay itself.

Fiat’s recent new models have typically been offered with a choice of petrol and electric drivetrains. Multiplay will be shown alongside two of them, the Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback, C-segment SUVs revealed in June that make their European show debut in Paris. Both are due in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the second half of 2026.

The name draws on two earlier Fiats. The 600 Multipla of the 1950s carried six people in a body 3.5 metres long, and the 1998 car did the same in under four metres.

Fiat also showed a concept called Multiplina in June. Based on the Topolino quadricycle, it is a separate vehicle from Multiplay.

The Paris Motor Show opens to media on 12 October and to the public from 13 to 18 October.