Fiat’s new saloon, produced in Agea project, may come to Ireland

Fiat has finally given us a look at its first mid-size car for almost a decade, with the unveiling of the Agea, the car that will replace the ancient Bravo hatchback in its lineup. Except it hasn't and it won't. In fact, it won't even be called Agea and there's uncertainty whether this new Fiat will be coming to these shores.

The Agea name is actually for the project that created the car, and is in honour of the Turkish plant where it will be built. Agea equals Agean Sea, the body of water which both separates and links Turkey to Europe.

The new car is based on the same platform as the newly launched Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500x crossovers, and its interior design and layout also lifts much from the 500x.

It’s big and practical – 4.5-metres long, designed to carry five passengers and with a 515-litre boot. There’s no sign of the hatch or estate versions at the moment but Fiat says they’re coming.

But are they coming here? The omens look good – traditionally, Fiat’s Tofas factory in Turkey has built cars, such as the old Linea, that were destined for emerging markets. Now though, it’s very likely that this car will come to western Europe as a competitor to the Golf, at least in hatchback and estate forms. As a saloon too?

Well, that's less certain. The three-box sedan unveiled here is destined for now to be an emerging market competitor to the likes of the Skoda Rapid and Toyota Corolla, and therefore probably won't make it to the UK, which makes right-hand drive production for Ireland possibly unlikely. Then again – we're the only market in Europe that gets the current Toyota Corolla four-door, and that's coincidentally built in Turkey too, so you never know.

We will get to know the actual name of the car soon though, in the autumn says Fiat, as it gears up to start sales. However, although the Agea was unveiled to much razzmatazz at the Istanbul motor show, there are potential problems lurking ahead. The Turkish automotive sector is currently a hot-bed of unrest, as workers protest and strike for better pay and conditions. All production at Tofas, as well as Renault's Oyak factory has shut down this week, while Ford's Otosan plant had to cut a production shift because of a lack of incoming parts.