A wave of new Fiat models are currently being developed in Brazil. Fiat Automòveis' giant Betim assembly plant in the Minas Gerais region, which this year has celebrated its 30th anniversary, is at present the scene of much engineering activity.

The first model to arrive on the South American markets will be a final facelift for the decade-old Palio hachback which has in recent months assumed leadership of its market segment, pushing the VW Gol, the traditional leader, into second place. This will be its most dramatic makeover yet, moving the Palio's position upwards to follow a growing car buying trend that is seeing South American drivers' seeking out larger and more luxurious vehicles to enhance their status.

The new Palio model will follow very closely the styling set out by the Chinese built Fiat Perla earlier this year, which is in turn based on the Siena sedan, the platform-sharing sister car to the Palio in the "Project World Car" family. The Perla was developed by Nanjing Fiat, the 50-50 Fiat Auto joint venture business in China, with strategic engineering input from Fiat Automòveis; and the project's aim was to firmly reposition the sedan upmarket. The new Palio will visually follow this theme at the front but with an even larger slatted radiator grille, which is pronounced by its new sharper edges an complemented by three horizontal cut-out sections at the top of the bumper. The front bumper is carried over from the Perla although Fiat's Brazilian development team have made the lower spoiler section slightly deeper. It also gets mist lights.

At the back the new Palio gets a more bulbous and deeper bumper to help it stand out. The bumper cut-outs have gone and in their place the middle is recessed to house the registration plate which is moved from its previous position in the tailgate which a raised lip across the bumper below the plate gives it a new profile.
 

The rear light of the new Palio are also brand new: smaller and smoother in shape than the outgoing units they no longer rise sharply into the rear screen, and will also receive new lens patterns. Finally a new tailgate features a smaller rear screen and a smoother feel with the reposition of the registration plate.

Meanwhile, beefing up the Fiat range in the South American region will be taken a step further when the Grande Punto commences assembly at Betim. Already hugely successful in Europe, and set to be built in both India and Russia, the new 'supermini' will be very heavily revised by Fiat Automòveis to incorporate their own technology and mechanical components. Just as Brazilian-built Fiat models such as the B-segment 'mini MPV' Idea are fundamentally different under the skin from their European counterparts, so the Grande Punto will also be revised, from an engineering aspect, when it rolls out of Betim. Finally, the Brazilian press has recently featured photos purporting to show Palio Weekend prototypes fitted with four wheel drive, raising hopes that this traction could be soon extended to the "Adventure" range.

Additional reporting by Claudio Perlini