Stellantis, which owns Fiat and Chrysler, said it would bring the all-electric Fiat Topolino small car to the US market. This comes after President Donald Trump praised small “Kei” cars at a White House meeting. The small quadricycle, made in Morocco, has a top speed of 28 mph and a range of less than 50 miles. It is aimed at city drivers as car laws change. Fiat CEO Olivier François said there would be more information about the launch next year, and they are checking interest at US auto shows.
During a meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa and other auto industry leaders, President Trump praised Japan’s “cute” Kei micro-cars and asked why similar cars aren’t made in the US. He told Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to make it easier for small cars to meet safety and speed standards, even though they aren’t banned outright. Stellantis made it clear that the Topolino announcement came before Trump’s comments but fits with testing consumer demand.
Fiat came back to the US in 2011 when it bought Chrysler. Sales peaked at 43,772 in 2012 and fell to 1,500 last year. The Topolino, which means “little mouse” in Italian, comes out as Stellantis changes its hybrids and adjusts to Trump’s fuel economy cuts. This fits in with other US investments, like making Jeep and Ram cars in the US while tariffs change.
