Last week it was revealed that new Fiat Grande Punto is now the best-selling car in Western Europe. For the first time in almost 10 years, an Italian car was able to achieve this result. Last month’s West European sales figures show that the Punto (original and Grande) was not only the leading seller in the B-segment, but also in the European car market outright. (Fiat Punto 37,977; Renault Clio 36,016; Ford Fiesta 31,470.) In terms of the overall European market for the month of January, Fiat Auto registered over 100,000 vehicles, marking a growth of 17.9 precent over January 2005. This excellent result was obtained in a market that grew by 2.6 pct over January 2005, with Fiat Auto’s share at 8.4 percent, which represents a 1.1 percentage point increase over the same month one year ago.

Mirroring its big brother, Fiat Auto South Africa likewise kicked off the new year with a very promising sales month. A total of 921 vehicles (Fiat, Alfa Romeo and commercial) found new owners in January.
 

This result represents a 47 pct increase over last January’s sales figures. Giorgio Gorelli, Managing Director of Fiat Auto South Africa, is encouraged by the first month’s results: “We’ve been working hard over the last year to improve our product range and I’m pleased to say that it’s now beginning to bear fruit.

"Models like the Panda, Strada and Alfa GT are starting to make sales inroads and I’m confident that with our next product arsenal, which includes the brilliant new Grande Punto, we’re on track for a really good 2006," added Mr Gorelli.