Fiat Argentina has carried out a senior management reshuffle as it gets to grips with a new push to regain its position at the head of the local new vehicle market. Franco Ciranni (the former CEO of Fiat Argentina) is now the CEO of Fiat Powertrain Latin America while Gerardo Bovone (former CEO of Comau Latin America) has been appointed as CEO of Fiat Argentina. Completing the changes at the top, Alejandro Solís (former CEO of Comau Argentina) takes over as the CEO of Comau Latin America. Comau is Fiat Group's manufacturing f production equipment division.

During July Fiat sold 4,546 vehicles in Argentina, putting it in sixth place behind the market leader Volkswagen (9,192), which was followed by Chevrolet (7,765), Ford (6,707), Renault (6,248) and Peugeot (4,825), all of which are well within reach of Fiat's new push. The rest of the Argentinean top-ten selling brands last month was made up of Toyota (2,308), Citroën (1,815), Mercedes-Benz (1,176) and Suzuki (1,092). Alfa Romeo, with 7 unit sales, was in 27th place.

The Fiat Palio (1,720) was the seventh best selling passenger car in Argentina during July, with the entry-level Uno (910) in 13th place, the Siena sedan (764) in 17th and the Idea small 'monovolume' (590), which is now available locally in the new off-road 'Adventure' format, in 21st. The market's top selling passenger car in July was the VW Gol which racked up 4,135 unit sales, putting it just ahead of the Chevrolet Corsa (4,084), and well in front of the third placed Peugeot 206 (2,337) and fourth best-selling Renault Clio (1,738). Amongst commercial vehicles sales last month the Fiorino van (349) was in seventh place in a segment which was led out by the Renault Kangoo (1,546), Toyota Hilux (1,404) and Ford Ranger (1,315).

Fiat is currently looking to improve its market share in Argentina, rebuilding a position in a country where it used to play a leading role, the 'Project World Car' Fiat Siena, and before it the Uno-based Duna, being the local market's cars of choice.
 

Fiat's state-of-the-art factory at Córdoba which has been mothballed since the last economic downturn in Argentina is springing back into action. Production of the Siena sedan will resume at the plant at the end of this year, while assembly of a new 1-ton pick-up truck jointly developed with Indian partner Tata Motors will get underway mid next year. Córdoba also has gained a contract to build gearboxes for PSA Peugeot-Citroën.

By bringing the moribund Córdoba factory back to life, and within a year to full capacity, Fiat is actively looking to relieve the pressure on its huge plant at Betim in Brazil which is currently being stretched to full capacity to cope with local market demand. In Brazil Fiat is the market leading brand this year. Using Córdoba is a cheaper and quicker option than building a new factory in Brazil. Fiat also hopes to take advantage of weaker Peso against the stronger Real, offsetting rising wages costs in Brazil with the lower wages paid in Argentina, although there is doubt amongst regional financial analysts over the ability of Argentina to sustain its gathering economic improvement.

The importance of Argentina to Fiat was also emphasised earlier this month as Buenos Aires was chosen as the venue for the launch of the Grande Punto in South America. The glitzy launch was attended by an array of VIP guests and senior management, including Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. The Grande Punto is now being built at Betim, the first time the B-segment model has been manufactured outside of Turin. It went on sale in Brazil just over a week ago and dealers already are reporting a 60 day waiting list.