Fiat has just announced Italian pricing and specification of the 'Model Year 2008' Sedici which comes with some new interior trim upgrades as well as carrying the new logo for the first time.

Fiat has just announced Italian pricing and specification of the 'Model Year 2008' Sedici, which comes with some detail new interior cloth and trim finish upgrades as well as carrying the new logo for the first time, as it now goes on sale on the domestic market.

The Sedici (sixteen) has been quite a success story for Fiat in Italy since it arrived on the market two years ago. It was launched in public at the Bologna Motor Show in December 2005 before a month later being designated as the 'Official Car' of the XX Winter Olympics which were held that year in Turin. Built in Hungary as a joint project with Suzuki, the Sedici has been styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Designed to cash in on the market demand for 'crossover' type vehicles, the Sedici aims to combine practical family urban motoring with genuine off road use and features an innovative all-wheel-drive powertrain that has three options available to the driver: 2WD (power through the front wheels only), AUTO (when the car feeds in power through all four wheels as the road surface grip conditions dictate) and LOCK (where the all wheel drive system is permanently engaged).

In its first year on sale in Italy the Sedici sold 10,453 units after a late spring debut in the showrooms, while last year this rose to 19,453 units. And it's form continues to impress: in January 2008 the Sedici 'crossover' continued to dominate its class in Italy with a further 1,851 units being driven off the forecourts. By contrast its rivals in the segment, the Toyota RAV4 (1,437), Daihatsu Terios (1,214), Honda CR-V (1,052) and Mercedes-Benz Classe M (959) were all unable to match its success.

The four wheel drive Sedici MY 08 continues with the model's three trim level specifications: Dynamic, Emotion and Experience; and two engine options: the Suzuki sourced 1.6 16v petrol unit with 107 bhp available and Fiat's 1.9 Multijet which as 120 bhp in this application. For this year the Emotion and Experience get interior upgrades with better quality and brighter new seat materials, as well as chromed interior door handles and surrounds to the dashboard vents. Italian market pricing for the 1.6 16v is 19,750 euros while the 1.9 Multijet is 22,750 euros (both in Dynamic specification).