Fiat Strada bakkie may be headed for South Africa

Stellantis has dropped a strong hint that the three-quarter-tonne Fiat Strada will return to South Africa, to fill the gap for compact bakkies left by the soon-to-be-discontinued Nissan NP200.

The multinational carmaker announced today that left-hand drive Stradas will be launched in Sub-Saharan Africa later this month, though it has not confirmed when it will arrive in South Africa. For now the pickup is only built in left-hand-drive variants.

The previous-generation Strada sold here briefly a number of years ago, and its return would come at an opportune time after Nissan recently confirmed production of its popular NP200 half-tonner at the Rosslyn plant near Pretoria will cease in March 2024. The NP200 has been in local production since 2008 when it replaced the long-running Nissan 1400, and held a monopoly on the country’s half-tonne bakkie market for many years after the discontinuation of the popular Ford Bantam and Chev Ute.

The Fiat Strada is popular in Brazil where the second-generation version has sold more than 400,000 units since 2020.

Developed and manufactured at the Stellantis plant in Betim, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the compact pickup has sold about 2.1-million units over 25 years.

The latest generation was launched in 2020 and recently received an upgrade. The modern pickup has features like LED headlights, stability control, four airbags and hill start assist.

Its cargo capacity is between 650kg and 720kg, depending on the version, and offers up to 1,354l in the single-cabin model, making it suited to a variety of professional and personal needs. Inside, it has abundant storage compartments.

Three versions are sold in South America: Working, Trekking and Adventure with four different body styles including single- and double-cabs. It is available with a choice of 1.3l and 1.0l turbo petrol engines.

Stellantis did not confirm which variants of the Strada would be sold locally.