Suzuki will supply Fiat with an extra 18,000 Sedicis this year, almost doubling the 20,000 unit quota which the Japanese carmaker was contracted to supply, reported Automotive News Europe this week.

This increased run will bring this year's supply of the four wheel drive "crossover" Sedicis to 38,000 units, emphasising the niche success that has been racked up up the well-recieved model, which is built at Suzuki's factory at Esztergom in Hungary. Fiat Automobiles' brand CEO Luca De Meo was quoted by ANE as saying that Sedici sales are better "than our most optimistic expectations." He said the Sedici had broadened Fiat's line-up and attracted families who want a car that looks like a car rather than an off-road vehicle, added the influential newspaper.

Fiat first previewed the Sedici 4x4 at the Bologna Motor Show in December 2005, and it was the "official car" of the 2007 Winter Olympic Games held in Turin, before it was introduced to the public in Geneva late last February; and it then went on sale in the major European markets, including Italy and the UK ,in the spring of last year. The additional capacity that Fiat has now secured will allow it to be rolled out into the European markets it hasn't yet reached.
 

Meanwhile Fiat Automóveis - the Brazilian arm of Fiat Group Automobiles - is also looking to introduce the Giorgetto Giugiaro-styled odd roader to the major South American markets.

Suzuki, which sells the crossover badged as the SX4, has capacity to build 60,000 units a year; during its introduction year in 2006 ANE (quoting UK-based market researcher JATO Dynamics) reports that Suzuki sold 22,210 SX4s while Fiat was delivered 16,005 Sedicis. Suzuki built 24,000 Sedicis for Fiat last year, added ANE, commenting that Fiat said it received 29,000 dealer orders for the SUV last year and delivered 22,000 to customers. The SX4 is also built by Suzuki in Japan and ANE reveal that Suzuki will ship over more SX4s to recover the production output it will now loose to Fiat.