Fiat Automòveis has announced another healthy month of vehicles sales during November across Brazil and they account for more than a quarter of all cars sold in the South American country this year. With a total of 417,742 vehicles sold between January and November, Fiat Automòveis has increased its leadership of the Brazilian new car market in 2006 with 25.5 pct participation in the passenger car and light commercial vehicle sector. The result achieved in terms of sales in November, has increased the distance between Fiat and its two main competitors General Motors and Volkswagen by more than 3 pct which is equivalent to 52,000 units.

Fiat’s total sales in the eleven month of 2006 represents a growth  of 15.1 pct compared to the same period of 2005, and saw them outperform the overall market, which grew by 13.3 pct. The sector for cars and light commercial vehicles in Brazil now stands at 1,446,727 units this year. During November the Italian brand registered a total of 44,841 cars, which represented 25.7 pct of sales amongst all brands and held it to keep and extend its leadership.
 

Fiat Automòveis, which celebrated its 30th year of building cars at its giant Betim plant in Belo Horizonte, will build around 560,000 vehicles this year for domestic and export use. Fiat is likely to export around 100,000 vehicles this year, a figure which is expected to rise further in 2007 as it focuses in particular on Latin American markets such as Venezuela and Mexico where it has been underexposed recently. Next year, and during the following year's, production is in Brazil slated to rise as new models including the B-segment Grande Punto hatchback and C-segment Linea saloon commence production in Brazil.

by Claudio Perlini