Unusually for its South American operations, Fiat imports a number of its models directly from Europe, including the Panda, Punto Classic, Doblò, Ducato and Grande Punto.

The Chilean new car market last year saw 227,743 vehicles (automobiles, SUVs and light commercial vehicles) registered, which represented an increase of 19.5 percent in relation to 2006. The Fiat Group last year sold 3,453 units in Chile, this being made up of 3,351 Fiat branded models and 102 from Alfa Romeo.

Chile sits in a unique position in the region. The Chilean new vehicle market is the most diversified and highly competitive one in Latin America with practically 100 percent of the vehicles sold being imported from other countries, the majority of which come from Japan and Korea (54 pct of the total). The main regional exporters to the country are Argentina, which accounts for 9 pct of the vehicles sold in Chile, and Brazil, with 6 percent.

At the same time Chile bucks another Latin American trend, the automobiles on the country's roads sees 52 pct of the vehicles being approximately less than 10 years of old. Meanwhile, 74 pct of the vehicles sold last year had petrol engines and 26 pct diesel engines, while the projections for this year is that 240,000 vehicles will be registered.

The Fiat Group's sales of 3,453 units during 2007 represented 1.5 pct of the market total, and it is a performance that offers the Italian brand much scope to increase its Chilean market penetration. Unusually for its South American operations, Fiat imports a number of its models directly to Chile from Europe, including the Panda, Punto Classic, Doblò, Ducato and Grande Punto. The latter two models are also built in Brazil although Fiat Chile chooses to market the European versions. The Panda and Punto Classic (Series 2) are unavailable in either Fiat's main South American markets, Brazil and Argentina.

The sales by model of Fiat and Alfa Romeo in Chile during 2007 was as follows: Fiat: Palio (903), Grande Punto (270), Siena (203), Punto Classic (148), Idea (76), Panda (48), Stilo (9), Fiorino (1,310), Doblò (209), Strada (118) and Ducato (57). Alfa Romeo: Alfa 159 (46), Alfa 147 (29), Alfa GT (21), Alfa Brera (3) and Alfa Spider (3).

Comercial Itala is responsible for the importation of Fiat Group models to Chile and there are 45 Fiat and 7 Alfa Romeo dealerships located in the major cities across the country. Of these, 19 for Fiat and 3 for Alfa Romeo, are located in the capital Santiago.

The models imported into Chile from Brazil are the Palio Sport 1.4 3 and 5 doors; New Palio 1.4 3 and 5 doors and 1.8R 3 doors; Palio Weekend 1.4; Palio Adventure 1.8; Siena Class 1.4; Idea 1.8 HLX; Idea Adventure 1.8; Stilo 1.8 5 doors; Strada Adventure 1.8 and Fiorino 1.3. Meanwhile from Europe comes the Panda 1.2 Dynamic and 1.3 Multijet 16v Climbing 4x4; Punto Classic 1.2 Dynamic 3 and 5 doors; Grande Punto Sporting 1.4 16v 3 doors, Dynamic 1.4 16v 5 doors, Dynamic 1.3 Multijet 16v 5 doors and Sporting 1.9 Multijet 16v; Ducato Maxi Cargo 100 Multijet, Ducato Maxi Cargo 120 Multijet and Doblò Cargo 1.3 Multijet 16v.

Alfa Romeo models available in Chile are the Alfa 147 1.6 16v TS 3 and 5 doors, and TI 2.0 16v TS Selespeed 3 and 5 doors; Alfa GT 2.0 JTS and 2.0 JTS Selespeed; Alfa 159 2.2 JTS; Alfa Brera 2.2 JTS Skywindow and 3.2 JTS V6 Q4 Skywindow and Alfa Spider 2.2 JTS and 3.2 JTS Q4.

by Claudio Perlini