Stellantis plans to offer the Fiat Topolino, an all-electric quadricycle vehicle, in the United States
Stellantis
DETROIT – Parent company of Chrysler Stellantis announced Monday that it will bring a small, all-electric “car” called the Fiat Topolino to the United States
The automaker has not announced a timeline for the vehicle, but Fiat CEO Olivier François has confirmed plans to bring the vehicle to market, with “more details to come next year.”
Fiat’s announcement comes less than a week after President Donald Trump praised Japan’s small “Kei” cars during a White House meeting with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa and other U.S. lawmakers and auto industry executives.
“They’re very small. They’re really cute,” Trump said during Wednesday’s meeting. “And I said, ‘How would that be in this country?’ And everyone seems to think “fine”, but you’re not allowed to build them. »
Trump said he had ordered U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to allow small vehicles like Kei “micro” cars to be built and driven in the United States. It is not necessarily illegal to produce such cars in America, but they must meet American safety standards, speed requirements and other regulations.
A Stellantis spokeswoman said Fiat’s announcement was unrelated to Trump’s comments last week and that the automaker had been gauging customer interest in the Topolino at U.S. events such as auto shows.
The Topolino, which translates to “little mouse” in Italian, is actually classified as “a fully electric quadricycle” rather than a car, according to Stellantis. It has a top speed of around 28 miles per hour and a range of up to 75 kilometers (less than 50 miles) on a single charge. The vehicle is produced in Morocco.
Historically, small cars have not sold well in the United States
The most recent significant push for small car sales in the United States occurred after the Great Recession of 2009, during the Obama administration. At the time, Italian automaker Fiat was allowed to buy bankrupt automaker Chrysler, in part to help bring such vehicles to the United States.
Fiat and its small 500 city car re-entered the American market in 2011, as part of Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler (both now owned by Stellantis).
In its first full year in 2012, Fiat sold 43,772 vehicles in the United States. Those sales have since declined to about 1,500 Fiat vehicles sold last year in the United States.