It’s definitely a niche vehicle. Predictions that the Transit Connect would succeed were rare, but they’re all over the place and several competitors are either of or planned. However, most of those sales have been fleet sales, and a small pickup won’t interest fleets as much. A van can be locked up and carry lots of small parts and tools. What can a small pickup carry securely? Old ones are used locally to pick up cardboard for recycling, but that wouldn’t pay for a new truck. Back in the seventies and eighties the small Japanese trucks mostly sold to the young because they cost about the same as a subcompact, without the bargain-basement associations economy cars then had. Now economy cars are popular and mainstream and driven by a wide range of people. Buying a Civic in 1976 meant you were either poor or cheap (or a wacko environmentalist.) Now my 85 you mother drives a Civic by choice. I just don’t see who they’ll sell these too besides a handful of businesses that want an open bed for smelly/messy cargo, but don’t need to carry a lot at a time. That’s a very small niche. Maybe a few farm boys who can’t afford a bigger truck, but I think they’re more likely to buy used than buy a toy. The Honda Ridgeline, adequate for the uses of many and with lots of slick features has always sold slowly.
Just about all Subarus of that era were severe rust buckets. I replaced the fenders on one model myself and found the rusted areas where cushioned over a frame support by foam rubber. Not closed cell but foam…you know, the kind found in sponges. I used butyl caulking instead during the replacement instead of the same “great” approach. Every time I replaced a body part on these and newer cars still, it makes me cringe seeing the some of the crappy fasteners, supports and engineering done. Friends just ten year 2003 Ouback, which was in the era of improved rust prevent, has holes behind the door above the rockers you can put your fist through. It’s a &:/@;/$ joke ! In ten years, new cars made today will be just as crappy. It had started visually rusting four to five years ago !!
Umm . . . what about the Toyota truck frames rusting away so badly, some of them were recalled.
OK…there are exceptions…but to be nick picky…the frame rusted…the BODY (which how all those other vehicles rusted out)…was fine.
I don’t think I would buy a Fiat/Chrysler vehicle of any type, but I can see the appeal of a small FWD pickup truck. I have competing needs. I’d like to be able to pull a small utility trailer with my motorcycle or cargo on it, but I want the fuel economy of a smallish car for daily commuting. Right now my main choices are the Toyota Tacoma and the Nissan Frontier. The Tacoma really isn’t that large if you get the base version.
I wouldn’t automatically shun a Fiat/Chrysler product, simply because the old story of Fiat’s lack of reliability is just that–old.
If we are not going to judge the Japanese and American vehicles of today on the basis of their lack of reliability a couple of decades ago, then we shouldn’t do the same thing regarding Fiat-derived vehicles–until we have more data on the reliability (or lack of same) of Fiat’s modern designs.
That being said, I question the concept of a FWD pickup, as once the bed is fully loaded, traction for the front wheels is likely to be somewhat dicey on a wet surface.
I’m not automatically shunning Fiat/Chrysler, but I think the Fiat 500 is ugly, and I would reserve judgment based on the final vehicle that comes to market.
I do lots of FWD towing with my mother’s 2002 Sienna. The trick is to load the heavy items in the Sienna and light items on the trailer, and to balance the load properly with roughly 60% of the weight in front of the trailer’s axle and 40% of the weight behind the rear axle. Most of the times I tow with the Sienna, I’m just dropping off or picking up my 550# motorcycle. That’s why I’m interested in a small light weight truck; I’m not planning to tow anything heavy. The most I would tow with it is a small popup camper with a GVWR of about 1,500#.
I for one would be interested in a small FWD pickup. We bought a new 1984 Dodge Rampage and sold it in 2004. I would still have it but thanks to knee surgery that did not go well manual transmissions are no longer an option. It held 4 x8 sheets of plywood. landscape timbers and was used for a part time lawn mowing service for 8 years. It was really good in snow and I saw it going down the road just the other day. I have trouble getting into full size pickups so I will look at one when they are offered.
Consumer Reports must have rated the Fiat 500 and maybe the Dart by now. Where do they stand? Anything from worse than average on up to much better than average should be good enough to avoid major differences in repair costs.
You may be right that there is no large market but when I was a kid, there were many of the small Jeeps around. I believe they were part time 4WD but were used for delivering groceries, plowing snow, you name it. In bad storms the little Jeep with chains on was about the only thing on the road-before snowmobiles. So I’m still not sure a small, reasonably rugid, multi-purpose vehicle wouldn’t be a hit. Then with the light rear ends in pick-ups unless loaded, seems to me FWD might be better in slippery conditions. I don’t drive a truck though so what do I know and the last Fiat I drove was delivering chicken in 1965.
When VW made their unsuccessful fwd pickup years ago, my neighbor bought one for light hauling for his business. According to him, it didn’t take much weight thrown in the rear to make it a totally useless vehicle. He couldn’t climb dirt road hills with a few hundred pounds in the back, even in the summer. Minivans work better because of Their size, large v6 over the front wheels and rear wheels well to the ends to help keep weight between wheel base. This approach kind of defeats the purpose of a small pick up. But, unless you get AWD in a car based pickup like the. Ridgeline, they are practically useless haulers unless you live in Florida. If all you haul is light trash, it may work. There is a reason why all real trucks are rwd.
The biggest reason Toyota trucks are more susceptible to rust then others is, they use a box frame for strength and if the drainage is poor in heavy salted areas, they rust. “c” frames which are open are less susceptible. Of course, a little more chromium in the steel would solve the problem but car markers in general are only concerned with keeping cars and trucks from rusting up to their mandated time/ mileage…And not one day LATER
Bottom line though. If fwd drive trucks worked as more then just a toy, you would seen them years ago after the VW fiasco. Fwd stinks for any truck like duty. It’s just physics !