Fiat dealers in Brazil have confirmed that the top-tier Audace and Impetus versions of the Fiat Fastback and Pulse models will no longer be equipped exclusively with combustion engines, following the launch of Bio-Hybrid technology scheduled for the first week of November, of which the automaker has recently shown the first images.
Fiat Fastback and Pulse will only have the 1.0 turbo engine in entry-level versions in Brazil
During the dealer sales training for SUVs with mild hybrid engines, the brand had already advised that only the base versions of Fiat Fastback and Pulse would retain the 1.0 turbo flex engine. Fiat will thus become one of the first automakers with Brazilian production to completely eliminate combustion engines. However, this process will still take several years, also considering future energy efficiency standards and expected emissions.
The same dealers believe that, if not exactly at the same price as the current range, the hybrid SUVs will arrive in stores at only slightly higher prices. This is mainly because, they claim, the Italian automaker had gradually increased the prices of both models “preventively” in recent months. Fiat will be the first of the five Stellantis brands sold in Brazil to offer the Bio-Hybrid system, a micro-hybrid with a 12-volt lithium-ion battery that operates in parallel with the conventional electrical system.
The offering of micro-hybrid versions of Fiat Fastback and Pulse is only part of the Bio-Hybrid project presented in the middle of last year, which includes two other flex-hybrid options and one fully battery-powered option, expected to be available by the end of this decade, when they will represent about 60% of Stellantis’ Brazilian production.
This market is one of the automotive group’s main ones, where it achieves more than satisfactory results compared to the United States and Europe. Here in particular, the Fiat Strada is among the best-selling cars in Brazil.