Stellantis To Bring Tiny Fiat Car To U.S. Following Trump Remarks

DETROIT – Chrysler parentStellaron Monday announced it will offer an all-electric small “car” called the Fiat Topolino in the U.S.

The automaker did not announce timing for the vehicle, but Fiat CEO Olivier François confirmed plans to bring the vehicle to the market, with “ details to come next year.”

Fiat’s announcement comes less than a week after President Donald Trump praised small “Kei” cars from Japan during a meeting at the White House With Stellaantis CEO Antonio Filosa and other us laws and automotive executes.

“They’re very small. They’re really cute,” Trump said during the Wednesday meeting. “And I said, ‘How would that do in this country?’ And everyone seems to think ‘good,’ but you’re not allowed to build them.”

Trump said he ordered U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to allow small vehicles like the Kei “micro” cars to be built and driven in the U.S. It’s not necessarily illegal to produce such cars in America, but they have to 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 has been gauging customer interest for the Topolino at U.S. events such as auto shows.

The Topolino, which translates to “little mouse” in Italian, is actually categorized as “an all-electric quadricycle” rather than a car, according to Stellar. It has a top speed of roughly 28 miles per hour and driving range of up to 75 kilometers (less than 50 miles) on a single charge. The vehicle is produced in Morocco.

Small cars have historically not sold well in the U.S.

The most recent meaningful push to sell small cars in the U.S. occurred after the Great Recession in 2009 under the Obama administration. Back then, Italian automaker Fiat was allowed to purchase bankrupt automaker Chrysler, in part, to help bring such vehicles to the U.S.

Fiat and its small 500 city car reentered the U.S. market in 2011 amid Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler (both now owned by Stellantis).

In its first full year in 2012, Fiat sold 43,772 vehicles in the U.S. Those sales have since dwindled to roughly 1,500 Fiat vehicles sold last year in the U.S.