Fiat’s highly awaited replacement for the Mitsubishi Triton-based Fullback, the Titano, has come under renewed attention ahead of its world debut later this year.
While anticipated to be a subtly revised and rebadged version of the Peugeot Landtrek, the Titano’s unveiling as had to be rescheduled as a result of a supposed conflict with fellow Stellantis brand Ram’s new 1200.
Delayed?
Originally, it was believed that Fiat’s flagship bakkie above the unibody Toro would show itself in the second quarter of this year before going on-sale soon after.
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According to motor1.com Brazil though, unconfirmed speculation has hinted at a fourth quarter debut as a result of a potential launch clash with the Ram 1200 that will be sold exclusively in South America.
Second rebadged model
Compared to its sibling though, the Titano will inherent the Landtrek’s body-on-frame platform instead of the Ram’s unibody, and become the second model to be based off of the F70 made by Changan’s Kaicene brand in China.
Despite so far detailing the Titano by way of the block letter FIAT badge rather than the Peugeot Lion on the grille and the Titano name on the tailgate, the newcomer’s exterior is expected to be identical to that of the Landtrek which now seems unlikely to receive the mid-life facelift reported earlier this month.
Instead, it is believed that the spied “revised” Landtrek could well have been the Titano undergoing final testing.
More power
The supposed highlight of the Fiat though will be its 2.2-litre Multijet turbodiesel engine the Landtrek is not expected to get.
Rumoured to produce as much as 147kW/440Nm, the oil-burner, also rumoured for the Ram, represents a significant upgrade of 37kW/90Nm over the Landtrek’s 1.9-litre turbodiesel, with the same applying to the nine-speed automatic gearbox versus the Peugeot’s six-speed unit.
Besides this, plus changes inside, the Titano is expected to have the same 3 500 kg towing capacity as the Peugeot, payload from 1 015 kg and option of four-wheel-drive with selectable low range to go with the standard rear-wheel-drive layout.
More info soon
Still to be confirmed is whether the Titano will be offered solely as a double cab, or in single cab guise as well as in order to fully mirror the Peugeot.
As it stands, no further details are known, but as Fiat has already started teasing the Titano, expect more details to be announced soon.
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