Around 6,000 workers returned to Fiat's giant Mirafiori plant yesterday after an additionally extended holiday period, to prepare for the starting of production of the new Grande Punto.

Fiat's sprawling Mirafiori factory in Turin has been chosen as a strategic hub of production for the new Fiat Grande Punto - the Italian carmaker's most important new model introduction for some years. Replacing the existing Punto (which has seen over 6 million built in 12 years) the new car, to be titled as the 'Grande' Punto, is a model that Fiat's senior management, the workforce, shareholders and the creditor banks, are all pinning their recovery hopes firmly upon.

For the Mirafiori workers though, the success of the new Grande Punto will mean the assured survival of the historic Turin plant, which has been a cornerstone of Fiat's industrial empire for a century. Today 6,000 returned to work after a four week summer break, with an extra week that was taken under the Italian government's temporary redundancy scheme. A further 700 - who have been laid off since May - also returned. The remainder of staff still absent under the scheme will return in early November.
 

Meanwhile, as the Mirafiori workers - along the rest of the Fiat employees - await the outcome of the next board meeting of the Fiat Group, where the capital increase will be decided upon, the countdown to the launch of the Grande Punto at the Palavela has begun.

FIAT GRANDE PUNTO - WORLD PREVIEW AT THE PALAVELA

The majestic Palavela - a dynamic, soaring structure built in 1961 to commemorate the centenary of the Unification of Italy and is set against the natural setting of the Po and the hills - is to play host to the debut of the Grande Punto. The building has recently been fully refurbished (it reopened in 2003) in time for next year's XX Torino Winter Olympics where it will be the main venue ice and figure skating events. The ambitious restoration project set out to preserve the external shape and volume of the building, one of the most outstanding and innovative of its day, a sail-shaped structure suspended between three reinforced concrete arches set at 60 degrees and fastened to the ground at three points, with a hexagonal base inscribed within a circle of 130 metres, and a height of 29 metres. To adhere to these key principles a building within a building has been created. It is a container in itself, autonomous and independent, built within the existing vaults that have managed to retain their striking visibility and unique character. The internal pavilion contains 8,000 seats.

On 5th September, the Grande Punto will be presented to the automotive industry, as well as Italian politicians, the authorities and unions, while the following day it will be shown to the press, 850 of whom are due to attend from all over the world.