The 2,500,000 vehicle fitted with a FlexFuel engine to be built at the Fiat Automóveis factory at Betim in Brazil has just rolled off the production line, reaffirming the Italian carmaker's position as the world leader in the production of 'dual fuel' cars.

The FlexFuel engine allows a car use ethanol (E100) or gasoline (E0) either in pure form or to any percentage of mixture. The car that marked this important milestone was a Fiat Linea, the C-segment sedan which is aiming to push Fiat Automóveis into new market territory in Brazil; other key models to be built at the Betim factory and to be fitted with FlexFuel engines included the B-segment Palio (hatchback) and Siena (saloon) as well as Brazil light commercial vehicle segment leading Strada (pick-up).

As well as in Brazil, where Fiat Automóveis is the market leader with more than a quarter of all new vehicle sales, FlexFuel powered cars from Fiat are spread right out across the Latin American range, and are exported to almost all the other markets in the region such as Argentina and Uruguay. Thanks to the ability of sugar cane to absorb CO2 during the photosynthesis phase, ethanol annuls its CO2 emissions and is thus an environmentally conscious energy source and helps reconfirm Fiat's commitment to the environment, a strategy that has seen it take its place as Europe's most efficient carmaker for the last two years.

Fiat Automóveis has been building FlexFuel powered cars in Brazil since 2003 when production numbered just 3,000 units. Ethanol has always been a fuel source associated with the Latin American car markets, however its popularity faded over recent decades until the early-2000s when the rising cost of oil prompted its gradual return to favour and hence the demand today for 'dual fuel' powered cars. Last year 690,000 vehicles fitted with FlexFuel engines were built at Betim, and this year dual fuel powered cars could hit 99 percent of all production.