During the first two months of 2007, Fiat Automóveis achieved sales of 72,236 cars and light commercial vehicles in Brazil, corresponding to 25.3 percent of total sales and keeping the Fiat brand firmly in the leadership of the Brazilian market.

Fiat Automóveis' excellent sales performance in its domestic market in relation to the same period during 2006 represents a steep upward growth of 24.4 percent, which is far above the average growth of sales across the whole Brazilian market, which was at 15.3 percent according to Anfavea - Associação Nacional de Fabricantes de Veículos Automotores (National Association of Automotive Vehicle Producers).

The sales of Fiat Automóveis, the autonomous Brazilian arm of Fiat Group Automobiles Spa, considering just the month of February were of 36,248 units, which represents 25.9 percent of total sales in the market and a growth of 19.7 percent in its total sales compared to the same period in 2006, with that number also well above the average growth of sales in the whole Brazilian new vehicles market, which was just of 14.9 percent.
 

The C-segment Fiat Palio hatchback model was the best selling car from the diverse Fiat Automóveis range, with 26,614 units being sold, a market-leading performance that will probably be kept up in the coming months taking into consideration the imminent arrival on the Brazilian new car market of new, and third facelift, Palio version. With the heavily revised Palio model being widely expected by the car buying public and in fact officially announced mid-month, this represents an excellent performance by the outgoing model, which is now tipping the VW Gol off the top spot on a regular basis.

Fiat Automóveis' Brazilian market success was not just limited to having the best selling passenger car last month, they also provided the biggest selling light commercial vehicle. The cost-effective and durable Fiat Strada pick-up kept hold of its first position in the LCV ranking this year, with 7,947 units being sold across Brazil up to the end of February.