I frequented the retirement communities in Florida enough to understand the lifestyle. The Topolino will do well for that. It will also do well in urban areas where the Department of Social Engineering has converted traffic lanes of various thoroughfares into bike lanes. The streets in such municipalities often have low speed limits.
Fiat is struggling in Europe and Asia as the emphasis on battery electric power failed to resonate with buyers. The new Grande Panda is flopping because the electric version was introduced first and the followup hybrid version has run into labor unrest because Stellantis chose to pay slave wages at the Serbian manufacturing facility.
The only region where Fiat does very well is in South America. The brand rules in Brazil, but what surprises many is the rapid increase of sales in Argentina. Apparently some guy with a chainsaw, who runs that country, has resurrected the dead economy of that once socialist paradise.
Now that Fiat has bailed out Auburn Hills, not once but twice, I think Fiat in North America deserves a second chance. I'm not sure how to get around the tariffs for the Fiat 500, but we need the Fiat 500 Hybrid, sold here, but with a 48V hybrid system using a single e-motor automatic transmission. The only engine that seems to fit in that model is the GME Firefly three cylinder, but like South America, we don't have Brussels dictating emissions standards to us. The horsepower of that particular engine can be easily doubled from the European output. In targeted areas of the US, Fiat should offer the 500e with swappable battery packs as a lease program. Stellantis, Free-2-Move, and Ample Technology have a pilot program in Madrid, Spain. This could lead to a low cost mobility solution.
The Grande Panda needs to be built and sold here, using a power train built and sold here, as a Fiat model. The CDJR dealers need an entry level product, and the Fiat Grande Panda should be it.
moparinsiders.com
