The recently launched facelifted Fiat Stilo (2008) model, now available on the local market with the automatic Dualogic gearbox, achieved a growth of 50.7 percent during February and March, and 38 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.

The first quarter the year has seen new records set by the Brazilian automobile industry, and for Fiat Automóveis in particular, the Italian firm seeing 155,750 of its vehicles registered during the period, which corresponded to it taking 25.2 percent of total market sales and retaining its number one position in the country.

The performance of Fiat in Brazil represented a strong growth of 30.8 percent in comparison to the first quarter of 2007, and it was a new record for the brand in the country.

Taking just March into consideration, Fiat Automóveis' sales reached 56,555 units, a 15.5 percent improvement over February, and 20.7 percent superior to March last year; while Fiat's total production during the first quarter also represented a strong growth of 21.4 percent in relation to the same period of 2007, and amounted to a total of 190,510 units being produced.

Amongst the best selling models of Fiat during the period, the recently launched facelifted Fiat Stilo (2008), now available on the local market with the automatic Dualogic gearbox, achieved a growth of 50.7 percent in February and March, and 38 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.

The Fiat Punto's sales in March were 24 percent above February's total, and have reached 10,752 units during the first quarter, while another Fiat Automóveis model that has been having great recent success on the Brazilian market is the Fiat Siena, which saw sales grow by 19.7 percent during February/March, a growth of 34.5 percent in relation to the first quarter of 2007.