The Mille (Uno) continued to be the Brazilian market's entry-level car of choice, accounting for 11,586 unit sales during October to make a total of 104,434 for the year-to-date.

Fiat Automóveis sold 60,314 vehicles on the Brazilian new car market in October, the largest volume registered in a single month in the history of the Italian brand in Brazil, which stretches back to the beginning of its production in South America in 1976.

With this record-breaking result, Fiat extends further its leadership of sales in the country, with a total of 490,450 automobiles and commercial light vehicles now having been sold from January up to the end of October, representing a total market share of 26 percent. The figure also sets a new record for Fiat during the period of ten months, beating the top sales achieved during the same period of 2006, during which 465,561 vehicles were sold.

The performance of Fiat in relation to the total sales during the year, points towards a growth of 31.5 percent in relation to 2006, once again well over the average level of the market that registered an average growth of  28.9 percent. The Fiat [Grande] Punto recently launched in the market, was one for the best sellers of the brand in the period with sales of 3,660 units, a total amount of 6,741 cars already sold in the market since its launch, while Palio (21,633 sales during October) and Siena (8,415) also keep up their strong growth of sales. The Mille (Uno) continued to be the Brazilian market's entry-level car of choice, accounting for 11,586 unit sales during October to make a total of 104,434 for the year-to-date.

The Palio's total sales achieved in the first 10 months amounts 182,295 units, a 43.2 percent increase over the volume of sales during the same period of 2006, while the Siena, with 71,220 units sold so far this year, is up 68.3 percent year-on-year. The Strada pick-up also keeps up its excellent performance as the leader in its segment (small pick-ups) with 50,273 sold units so far this year, representing a year-on-year growth of 47.6 percent.

Driven forward by the health of its internal market, the production of Fiat Brazil reached 68,540 units in October, adding up to a total 596,524 vehicles produced since January and a 28.5 percent increase over the production it accomplished during the same period of 2006 and again, setting another historical record for the brand in Brazil. Exports in the same period also improved over the previous year with 10,400 vehicles shipped in October, adding up to a total of 88,642 units exported so far this year, which represents a year-on-year growth of 10.9 percent.

by Claudio Perlini