Is FCA thinking about adding the Fiat Toro (a small pickup on sale in Latin America) to the Fiat lineup in the USA? Well it depends on the time of day you read read Twitter.
Ralph Gilles, global head of design for FCA, got the rumor mill flying today by tweeting an image of the truck with the following text:
Speaking at the Chicago Auto Show, Gilles showed an image of the new Fiat Toro pickup, and promised: “You’re going to be seeing more from Fiat on the truck side, especially.”
But a few hours later, he sent removed the tweet and sent out the following one:
I must clear something up from this morning #MAMA "I meant I Love the new 2017 #Fiat Toro sold in Latin America, no plans to sell in the U.S pic.twitter.com/aeChtwTTeD
— Ralph Gilles (@RalphGilles) February 9, 2017
The Toro is a unibody metric-ton pickup that replaced the Fiat Strada in Latin America in 2016. Based on the same global platform that launched the Jeep Renegade and new Jeep Compass, it has two rows of seating and a compact pickup bed, and a tailgate that is split in the center.
The midsize pickup Is a hot battleground in the U.S.- growing 26 percent last year. New entries from Chevrolet and GMC and a redesigned Toyota Tacoma and Honda Ridgeline have stoked demand for smaller, less expensive pickups. The segment will also soon be joined by the Ford Ranger.
Fiat’s current U.S. lineup has just four vehicles, all of which are cars. They are the 500 minicar, the 500X crossover, the 500L five-door hatchback, and the Mazda-built 124 Spider roadster. With US consumer demand shifting toward crossovers, SUVs and trucks., it might now be a bad idea to bring the Toro to the US market.
