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Fiat taps Mitsubishi for European pickup

Mitsubishi is often derided in the US for its relatively boring lineup, Lancer Evolution aside, but the company is on the upswing worldwide, recently posting record global operating profits. The Japanese automaker may get a further boost in the near future from a rumored pickup truck deal with Fiat.
According to insider sources speaking to Automotive News Europe, Mitsubishi would reportedly build a variant of its widely respected L200 pickup truck for the Fiat Professional brand in Europe and Latin America starting in 2016. The L200 is larger than the Fiat Strada front-wheel-drive pickup already available in those markets, and it's available in rear- and four-wheel-drive configurations. The idea of adding a midsize truck to the commercial lineup was in the Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles five-year plan, but it didn't include any mention of a partnership to build it.
At first blush, the Mitsubishi agreement seems like an odd move, given that Fiat already owns pickup truck specialists Ram. However, according to ANE, the company had at one time planned to use a version of a new Dodge Dakota pickup for duty in Europe and Latin America, but the model never came to fruition.

Mitsubishi Fuso targets female truckers with pink polka dot Canter

We take it for granted that women can enter just about any career they want now. But there are still countless occupations where females are underrepresented. You don't see too many women truckers, for example - particularly in a country that's still as deeply traditional as Japan. But Mitsubishi Fuso is showing just how forward thinking - and simultaneously, how traditional (pink polka dots are a bit 'on the nose') it can be with this hybrid pink truck.
Now for those unfamiliar, the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation has nothing to do with Mitsubishi the car company these days. Instead, it's owned by Daimler, which we know best as the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. Yet Daimler also owns a number of truck and bus manufacturers - among them Freightliner, Thomas Built and Mitsubishi Fuso. One of latter's most popular products is the Canter, the model seen here coated in the shade of Pepto pink at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The point? To make truck driving more attractive to women, of course! We're not sure it'll catch on, but apart from the color scheme - which extends, incidentally, from the cab to the box and inside the cabin - this particular Canter (which Fuso has dubbed Canna) features a hybrid powertrain that produces 130 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, paired to a 7.5Ah lithium-ion battery good for 270 volts. The whole package weighs 6,250 pounds and can carry three Japanese school girls dressed up as Sailor Moon in the front and plenty of Hello Kitty merchandise in the back.

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