The Fiat Palio Adventure Locker (top) was a significant new niche market debutant in Brazil last year, while the long-running Uno-based Mille (bottom) continued to be the market's entry level car of choice.

In a year of records for the motor vehicle industry in Brazil, Fiat Automóveis ended 2008 at the top of the rankings for the sales of cars and light commercial vehicles, with 657,778 units sold. Fiat Automóveis was, for the seventh time, the leader of Brazilian automotive market.

This figure represents a total of more than 72,000 vehicles ahead of VW, the second placed brand in Brazil last year, and approximately 109,000 more than GM, which captured third place. 2.82 million vehicles were sold in Brazil last year, 14.7 pct up year-on-year. It is a historic result which shows a growth of 8.3 percent compared to 2007. In December, Fiat's volume of sales was 42,574 units, confirming the market leadership of the Italian brand also in the last month of 2008.

The good numbers for Fiat are reflected as well in production, which reached the amount of 743,756 vehicles in 2008, 3.7 pct higher than last year, and consolidates its key factory at Betim as one of the largest of the world. In terms of participation in the overall market, Fiat claimed 24.6 pct, meaning that it accounted for approximately one in four cars sold in Brazil last year.

No less than four Fiat Automóveis models were listed in the rankings of the ten most sold vehicles in Brazil last year, the Palio was in second place, with 197,224 units; the Mille Economy, was in the third place with 141,383 units; the Siena was in the seventh place with 95,303 units, and the Strada pick-up, which was the leader in the segment for light commercial vehicles, with 71,946 units. Amongst the new model launches during 2008, the new Palio Adventure Locker, with 30,395 units, and the new Stilo, with more than 16,000 units sold in 2008, were both key market entrants.

by Claudio Perlini