FCA, Mitsubishi Team Up to Create a New Global Pickup

Mitsubishi Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding to develop a new midsize global pickup truck, according to Automotive News. The new vehicle will likely be based on the next-generation Mitsubishi L200, to date one of the most popular small pickups in the world. Last year, at the Geneva Motor Show, Mitsubishi showed a that could offer hints at the next design.

The partnership will allow Fiat Professional (FCA's commercial vehicle arm) to offer a midsize choice for Europe, Latin America and possibly Asia, where the current L200 is built. Whether this new midsize venture will translate into a new option available to Ram Truck or Ram Commercial (it's already borrowed two Fiat Professional vehicle platforms with the ProMaster and ProMaster City vans) remains to be seen, but the pairing is not without a long history.

It wasn't that long ago that both Dodge and Mitsubishi partnered to co-produce the Mitsubishi Mighty Max, Dodge Ram 50 and Plymouth Arrow compact pickup in the 1980s and '90s. The small-truck entry had a stout engine, solid payload capability and offered a sturdy 4×4 setup. Later, the larger Dodge Dakota and Mitsubishi Raider shared platforms as well.

Automotive News reports that FCA's main reason for partnering with Mitsubishi is to regain FCA's profitability in Europe and end its losses there by 2016. A proposed midsize pickup model has been part of FCA's strategy plans for several years, but this is the closest a new, larger pickup for Fiat Professional has come to reality.

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