Fiat is bringing this tiny city car to the U.S.

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Fiat is bringing this tiny city car to the U.S.

The Fiat Topolino, a pint-sized city car made for navigating narrow and congested European streets, is coming to the land of oversized pickups and SUVs, brand CEO Olivier Francois says.
Fiat recently showed off the electric two-seater that maxes out at 28 mph at auto shows in New York and Los Angeles, Greenwich, Connecticut's Concours d'Elegance and the recently-concluded Miami Art Week.
A handful of U.S. dealers were showing them off in their showrooms over the last few months, and VIPs got rides in them at last summer's Roadkill Nights in Pontiac.
The Stellantis NV brand says reactions have been positive, and it now plans to proceed toward U.S. sales as soon as next spring.
"The Fiat Topolino, our small, joyful, colorful car that is now everywhere in Europe, has made several appearances in the U.S. over the past year, including last month at the LA Auto Show, where it's creating tremendous excitement among consumers," Francois said in a Monday announcement of a special artist-designed version of the car that's on display in Miami.
"So much so that I’m happy to share that we’ll be bringing the Fiat Topolino to the U.S., with more details to come next year.”
The Topolino would join just one other model that Fiat sells in the U.S., the 500e. That model is also marketed as a small electric city car, albeit one that can be driven on a freeway. Fiat has sold only about 2,000 since they hit the American market early last year.
Topolino means "little mouse" in Italian, and the car is indeed closer to the size of a golf cart than a traditional vehicle. In Europe — where Fiat started selling the Morocco-built Topolino in early 2024 — they are classified as a quadricycle, not a car, which allows for low-speed urban use and fewer licensing and safety rules.
Suitcase storage is available using a rack mounted to the back. Battery range checks in at about 50 miles, and the Topolino charges using a cable that's plugged into a standard household outlet. In Europe, Fiat prices the Topolino at about 10,000 euros or $11,500, and the brand has offered a lease deal there with monthly payments of around $45.
News of the Topolino's U.S. arrival comes amid a recent flurry of interest in tiny vehicles — specifically Japan's kei cars — after President Donald Trump praised them as "very small" and "really cute" at a recent press conference.
Trump promised that they would be allowed to be built in America. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later noted that they would provide a more affordable transportation option. But regulatory hurdles remain for these microcars to hit the streets en masse — and big questions remain about whether they would be particularly popular with American consumers anyway.
Stellantis spokesperson Diane Morgan said the Topolino U.S. announcement just happened to come as Trump started talking up tiny cars, with Francois having previously planned to discuss the vehicle's American arrival at the recent Miami event.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
@lramseth