A quickly growing Brazilian new car market, coupled to growing demand for their models across the range, saw Fiat Automóveis recording a bumper 2006, with the Palio hatchback being the best performer with 162,728 units registered during the year.

The forthcoming facelift for the Fiat Palio will in fact come just as the model cements its place as the second best selling passenger car in Brazil, and closes in on the market leader, VW's Gol. 162,728 Palio models were sold during 2006, putting its not far behind behind the VW Gol (189,132) and well out in front of the Chevrolet Celta (126,228). After starting the year someway behind the VW Gol, actually last January the Gol outsold the Palio by a margin of 2-1, the Fiat hatchback remorselessly closed in on its German counterpart, outselling it during September and October, and being just a few dozen units of sales behind in November. It's rise to prominence was aided by a new car market that grew all year long.

Another Fiat model to continue to sell well in Brazil is the Mille (which was formerly known as the Uno when it was sold in Europe) and which last year proved to be the Brazilian market's affordable entry-level car of choice. It was the fourth best selling passenger car overall in 2006, with 115,158 units sold. Its best month was May when 11,019 were shifted, and it ended the year comfortably ahead of its newer rivals: the VW Fox (107,621) and Chevrolet Corsa Sedan (105,302).

The evergreen Fiat Siena was next up, and the seventh best-selling passenger car on the Brazilian market last year (56,358 units), and, just like the surge in the Palio's Brazilian market fortunes during last year, the Siena too had more than doubled its sales by the end of 2006, helped in part by the surging demand for new cars in Brazil. After selling less than 4,000 units per month in the early stages of the year (in February in accounted for just 2,896 units), sales climbed very strongly in the closing months of 2006 as the C-segment sedan turned in an excellent October (7,048), November (6,914) and December (7,131).

With the "Project World Car" family Siena model shortly set to slot into the market in under the the Linea, a new Tofas-developed "3-box" sedan, a project which has been realised in Turkey, which is set to be built at the Brazilian Betim plant in less than a years time, the build up in sales last year is an excellent pointer towards a strong future for Fiat in the affordable sedan segment.
 

The Fiat Idea, which is visually the same as the European version but substantially different under the skin, was the 16th best selling model on the Brazilian new passenger car market last year, with 26,702 units sold between January and December. Built at the sprawling Betim plant, it too saw demand climb throughout the year, partly brought on by growing interest in the "Adventure" off-road styled version which was launched in the autumn. The Idea (including the Adventure model) rounded out 2006 strongly, in October it sold 2,664 units, while November saw 2,846 and December, 2,633.

The Fiat Palio Weekend (including the Adventure series model) was the 19th best selling car in Brazil during 2006, with 22,054 units reaching the new car market. The estate car's best month was December when 2,228 units were sold, and like the other models it too took advantage of a growing national market and saw its demand climbing. Of the other cars in the Fiat Automóveis range, the Doblò was the 31st best selling car last year (11,194 units) just one place ahead of the Stilo (10,474) with the long-running Marea sedan was still registering on the radar in Brazil (1,193).

In the Light Commercial Vehicle sector the Fiat Strada performed very well, keeping its place as the light pick-up of choice. 42,352 Stradas were sold in 2006, putting it behind only the Ford Ecosport (43,599) in terms of overall sales, and with more than double the sales amassed by the third best selling vehicle, the VW Kombi (19,273). The Fiat Fiorino Furgão also continues to sell well, it racked up 12,325 sales during the year to finish 8th in the LCV segment, and will benefit in 2007 from the addition of a "dual fuel" option, as the popular 1.0 FLEX engine was commercialised on the light van just before Christmas. The Ducato van sold 4,280 units last year; while the Uno Furgão saw 228 units reach buyers; and it too has just received the 1.0 FLEX engine option.

Additional report by Claudio Perlini