The business model which worked in the past was the old Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi partnership from 1970 into the 1990's. The two door 500 can't be anything but a Fiat, because it's iconic to the brand. On the other hand, there is only room for one A-segment vehicle in the Fiat USA lineup. The 500e is a perfect city car, but it's not meant for our interstate highways. The Pulse, Strada, and Panda sure are cool, but they are too small to play in our traffic. The upcoming Centoventi sounds great, but is also Panda sized. There is a rumored B-segamnt SUV which would be a good addition. The dilemma for Fiat is anything that works on the continent is usually too small for here and what would work here might not work over there. Americans like the idea a Panda/Centoventi type of vehicle, but it has to be in a size Americans will buy.
The Pulse might do okay with the right marketing, it just needs engines that Americans will improve of.
You'll obviously never fit a Scat Pack/Hellcat in there, don't know about any 6 cylinder, but hand it the Hornet 2 liter, and it shouldn't be too bad should it?
Actually, I just wish they tested it for the US and brought over a '''brand engineered''' Dodge version instead of taking the kinda beautiful Tonale and calling it a day if they really couldn't fork out enough for a ground up Dodge CUV.
Abarth powered R/T, anyone?
The production Centoventi could be marketed as a step above the Bolt EUV in some key areas, plus being a generally more fashionable and customers preference centric car with different customization options...if much of the options in the concept ever sees the green light.
The rest can honestly stay where they come from while Fiat would develop new models for the STLA platforms and sees which ones CAN have a go on our streets. Good marketing can do wonders for a Silverado obsessed general market.