Fiat Commercial Vehicles Dodge Into The US Market

Fiat is to launch its commercial vehicle range in the United States market, starting with the Fiat Doblo, the reigning International Van of the Year, which will be sold in the US under the Dodge Ram brand, under which the Chrysler Group, now Fiat owned, sells its commercial vehicles.

Fiat Commercial Vehicles, with the Ducato and Scudo which are sold in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Fiorino, Doblo and Punto Van, are major players in the European market and these vehicles are a perfect fit with the Ram range of full and medium size trucks, or what Australia and New Zealand would know better as a Ute.

The Fiat Doblo, which passed the million vehicle milestone last year, is a joint venture with Turkish vehicle producer TOFAS, and Fiat Group Automobiles has signed a letter of intent for an initial 190,000 Doblos to be exported to the USA over a seven year period, with TOFAS investing more than $160 million to prepare the vehicle for the legal and market requirements for the US and Canadian markets.

Last year Fiat signed an agreement with Opel for the Doblo to form the basis of the new Opel and Vauxhall Combo, which is sold in Australia and New Zealand under Holden brand name. This agreement sees another 250,000 Doblo-based vehicles coming out of the TOFAS factory starting at the end of 2011.