The new Fiat Bravo has made its Dutch public debut this week with three of the new C-segment hatchbacks on display leading out the Turin carmaker's line-up at AutoRAI 2007 in Amsterdam. Also attracting interest on the Fiat stand is the première of the new Scudo B2B, a luxurious passenger carrying version of the light commercial van.

AutoRAI takes place bi-annually at the RAI Exhibition Centre and this year's edition is expected to see a crowd of around 500,000 coming through the doors before it winds to a close on 9th April. The Bravo is set to be one of the most important cars at the show on the occasion of its Dutch debut, which comes just weeks after it was presented for the first time at a motor show, in Geneva. There are a string of other models that were shown for the first time at the Swiss show earlier this month on display here and several world debuts, including a new concept car from Volvo.  Other new cars on show at the RAI either just arriving - or soon to arrive on the market - include the Maserati GranTurismo Mazda2, Ford Mondeo, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Citroen C-Crosser, and the revamped BMW 1-Series; while attention-grabbing concepts include the glorious Alfa 8C Spider, Toyota's Fine-T and the Jaguar C-XF which represents a shift in styling direction for the English brand.

Fiat is one of more than 130 exhibitors, of which 80 are automotive brands, who are laid out across 87,000 sq metres of the Amsterdam RAI's rambling halls. A number of specialist display areas, showcasing the latest technology and new ideas, serve to compliment the carmakers' offerings.
 

These include the "Car of the Future" pavilion where a car of the future has been built by the students of the Universities of Technology in Twente, Delft and Eindoven; the "ECO Village" which focuses on innovative environmental automotive solutions and the "Autovisie SuperCar Paddock" which includes the Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari FXX as well as the All-Inkl.com racing Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT, the latter more usually seen racing in the FIA GT Championship.

Alongside the trio of new Bravos and the Scudo B2B on the Fiat stand are the rest of the production range. The Panda is represented by the powerful new Panda 100HP and the Panda Panda, the environmentally-conscious choice which is now on sale, these two lining up alongside the Grande Punto, in 3- and 5-door format, which currently is revelling in its status as Europe's best-selling car thus far this year. The four wheel drive Sedici 'crossover', built in conjunction with Suzuki, is also on show, while the line-up is wrapped up by two of the Giorgetto Giugiaro-styled Croma 'station wagons'.

by Edd Ellison in Amsterdam