Fiat Automobiles is joining forces once again with the official Yamaha team for the 2010 season of the MotoGP World Championship, coming after the last two seasons, 2008 and 2009, saw the Fiat Yamaha Team taking a clean sweep of titles.

Fiat Automobiles SpA joins forces again with the Fiat Yamaha Team, the official Yamaha team, for the 2010 season of the MotoGP World Championship. 2008 and 2009 were triumphant seasons, in which Valentino Rossi won two riders’ world championship titles, the Fiat Yamaha Team won two team world championship titles, Yamaha won two constructors’ world championship titles and the talented, young Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo took the Rookie of the Year title in 2008 plus an overall second place in 2009. So Fiat Automobiles is proud to start the new season with the most competitive team in MotoGP, and once again join the world of “four wheels” with that of “two wheels” and unite two brands that have written some unforgettable chapters in the history of the world’s competitions and industry.

“We’re delighted to be opening the start of another season as part of such a successful union, with the bond that links Fiat to Yamaha and to its incredible riders, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo,” said Lorenzo Sistino, the Managing Director of Fiat Automobiles Spa. “I believe that our company and Yamaha share many of the same values. First and foremost, our technology excels: Yamaha leads the field in MotoGP and has done for a while now, and we strive to go “beyond state-of-the-art” from a technological standpoint and especially in terms of environmentally-friendly solutions. Plus we both have the drive to win, to be first, and to never stop. I think this is definitely yet another value that our company shares with Team Yamaha.”

With the genesis of the Fiat Yamaha Team, in 2007, Fiat Automobiles SpA decided to follow the strategy of reaching out to the world of young people with innovative and accessible products, as well as with extremely popular initiatives with a strong emotive impact, such as the MotoGP, a sports event par excellence that captures the attention of young motorsports fans.

“The Yamaha sponsorship is an important asset in our brand strategy,” continued Lorenzo Sistino, the Managing Director of Fiat Automobiles Spa, “It brings us increasingly closer to young people in a way that is completely in keeping with their interests and passions. Working with Yamaha has without doubt turned out to be a successful partnership, and a winning combination in terms of visibility and fame for our brand. MotoGP races are now watched by more than 330 million households in 184 countries and this has certainly brought many more people closer to our brand. The Fiat and Yamaha brands have a lot in common: they have both proved that they are winners in markets and on circuits in countries throughout the world over the past three years. I’m convinced that the passion expressed all around the world by the Fiat Yamaha Team has also helped to contribute to Fiat’s success. 2009 was actually a very important year for us: in a period that many automotive manufacturers found extremely difficult, the Fiat brand achieved its best results in Europe since 2001, and had now attained a 7.1% share. So we now hope to repeat the team’s triumphs on the track again in 2010, and to continue with our winning market performance.”

To date, Fiat Automobiles SpA and Yamaha have sparked an innovative partnership that has broken the mould of traditional sports sponsorships. They have created a genuine integrated platform involving communication, marketing, public relations, advertising and Web 2.0, which is playing an ever more important role in brand positioning strategies. The winning strategy has produced tangible advantages in terms of return on image and visibility for both companies during the first three years and will be implemented again during the 2010 season.

In addition to constantly updating the www.fiatyamahateam.it website and getting even more involved with the social networking world by releasing exclusive content about the Fiat Yamaha Team, Fiat Automobiles SpA will once again use the liveries on the team motorbikes as a communication tool. These will be occasionally dedicated to the brand’s special projects, one example of this is the special livery designed for the launch of the new Fiat Punto Evo which was used for the Estoril GP in 2009. This provides the ideal place for the Fiat and Yamaha brand identities to come together through a universal language of graphics and colours that will be understood by a vast audience.

This global sponsorship enables Fiat Automobiles SpA to use the image of the Fiat Yamaha Team in the respective markets of reference through local trade, consumer and media promotional activities. 2010 is also the year in which the MotoGP debuts in Hungary, another key market for Fiat’s presence in Europe. Fiat will be running communication campaigns using the sporting image of the riders as it has done in the past. The two official Yamaha motorbikes will have the Fiat logo on the side and front fairings and on the tank. Plus the two riders’ racesuits will be branded Fiat – on the front, back and centre and also on the legs – as will all the apparel worn by the Fiat Yamaha Team staff and mechanics. Finally, the Fiat logo will be featured on all official team communications, in the hospitality area and the boxes as well as on the trucks used to transport the motorbikes and gear around the world.

ItaliaspeedTV: Valentino Rossi Interview / Jorge Lorenzo Interview / Fiat Automobiles CEO, Lorenzo Sistino Interview / Fiat Yamaha Team "Celebration" / Lin Jarvis Managing Director, Yamaha Racing Interview / Italian & Spanish Language Interviews