Driven by demand for new models and versions Fiat Automóveis added a further 68,678 sales during July to cement its leadership of the Brazilian market and take more than a quarter of all new car sales. The data comes from the Registro Nacional de Veículos Automotores, and has been released by Brazilian automotive trade body Anfavea.

For the total Brazilian market year-on-year sales fell by 0.9 percent in July, while month-on-month they dropped by 4.9 percent, to 285,416 units. A tailing off had been forecast as customers rushed to buy new cars during June expecting a government tax break incentive to run out. The tax break was eventually extended through to October, the second time it has been extended this year (in March it was run forward into July).

Year-on-year Brazilian sales are up 2.4 percent to 1.73 million units for the first seven months of this year. Despite the fall in July it was the third most productive month in terms of sales in Brazilian history. "We will produce 2.6 million cars this year just for the local market, and that's more than the 2.4 million we did last year," an upbeat Anfavea President Jackson Schneider said.

With a 25.2 percent share of the total Brazilian new passenger car and light commercial vehicle market last month Fiat Automóveis retained its market leading position during a difficult period for the car industry and it now has a racked up total of 410,930 sales during the first seven months of the year. This equates to a 24.6 percent share of the total market for the year-to-date.

Launched in Brazil last autumn the locally-built Linea registered a pleasing 12.4 percent sales growth in July after 1,487 units of the stylish 3-box sedan found buyers across Brazil, despite a 5.6 percent fall in the market. This was the second consecutive month of sales increases for the Linea after an impressive surge of 42.8 percent in June, when 1,323 units were sold, a rise that was well above the overall market which climbed by 9.3 percent. Now in "Model Year 2010" specification, the changes to the Linea range include the addition of two new entry-level versions (the LX 1.9 16V and LX 1.9 16V Dualogic, both fitted with the FlexFuel engine producing 127 CV), as well as detailed interior trim upgrades including new carpets and colours, a digital dashboard instrument readout option, new hi-fi option and new pattern alloy wheels.

Also turning in a good performance was Brazil’s best selling light commercial vehicle, the Strada pick up. This long-running member of the Project 192 “World Car” family is now available in an all-new “double cab” format and this version is proving to fill a useful niche in the market.