Fiat Australia has launched two new versions of the Ritmo (Bravo) based around the 'Dynamic' trim and equipment package and two new engines that enables Fiat to offer the it with a new opening recommended price of AUS$24,990.

Fiat Australia has launched two new versions of its family size hatchback, the Ritmo (as the Bravo is known in Australia), based around the 'Dynamic' trim and equipment package and two new engines that enables Fiat to offer the Ritmo with a new opening recommended retail price of AUS$24,990 and provide Fiat’s advanced Turbo Diesel engine in a Ritmo for the first time under the AUS$30,000 price point.

“These two new versions of the Ritmo take our family Fiat into a whole new market sector for both price and diesel availability,” says Andrei Zaitzev, General Manager for Fiat in Australia. “These new versions of the Ritmo may have new, more affordable prices, but the Ritmo retains its stylish good looks, its benchmark five star EuroNCAP safety standards, and high levels of equipment. The two new engines set new standards for performance and, as would be expected of the company that invented the common rail direct injection diesel engine, economy, with the new Ritmo JTD offering a remarkable economy, using just 4.3 litres per 100 km of fuel on the open road.”

The Fiat Ritmo family now opens with the 1.4 Fire engine, the latest development of one of the most successful families of engines in the world. In this variant, which boasts significant upgrades for its Ritmo application, it produces 66 kW and 128 Nm of torque. With a combined fuel consumption figure of 6.7 l/100 km, the latest version of the Ritmo enters the official Australian Government Green Vehicle Guide in fifth position, providing a Fiat with a unique achievement: Every model in its car range is represented in the top five greenest cars on the market. No less successful – and arguably a member of the most popular diesel engine family available in Australia – the 1.9 litre 88 kW Turbo diesel engine in the new Fiat Ritmo enables diesel economy to now be available in a Ritmo for just AUS$29,990.

The Dynamic equipment and trim package joins the Sport and Emotion equipment packages already offered in Australian market Ritmos and it is by no means a stripped poverty pack variant. Standard equipment includes AirCon, digital audio system, remote central locking, cruise control, trip computer, front power windows, plus a carbon fibre effect and chrome trimmed interior. Nor has safety been sacrificed, with ABS brakes standard, along with six airbags, all standard and the FiatCare Warranty remains at three years/100,000 km with 24 hour roadside assistance.

The new Ritmo joined the Fiat Punto, which relaunched Fiat in Australia last year and was the first of two new models launched in 2008 that have redefined Fiat’s position in the car market. The Ritmo was a strong entrant into the upper end of the increasingly important small car market sector and the new Dynamic variants place it squarely in the middle of this sector, while the Fiat 500 is, quite simply, the most sought-after new car to enter the Australian car market in 2008.