This year will see the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated return of Fiat cars to Australia with the all-new Fiat Grande Punto previewing the brand at the Melbourne International Motor Show in February and sales starting across Australia in the middle of 2006.

Australian importer Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd has been under pressure to bring Fiat cars back to Australia from the moment it re-introduced Alfa Romeo to Australia in 1998 and followed this highly successful launch with the debut of Fiat's Ducato commercial vehicle range in 2000. Ateco has made it clear, though, it would not prematurely launch Fiat after it left Australia nearly 15 years ago. "We have always made it clear that we had to have the right product at the right retail price," explains David Stone, General Manager for Fiat cars in Australia. "We have now reached that point. The Grande Punto is an outstanding new car, it has pricing that will make it highly competitive and, as a newly launched model, it has a full production life ahead of it over which we can re-coup launch and set-up costs."

As with Alfa Romeo, Ateco will not launch in Australia existing Fiat models, rather it will add selected new models to the range as they are launched in Europe. Although dealers will be appointed specifically as Fiat car dealers and will be expected to set up a separate operation over time to handle the new marque, it is expected that the majority of Australia's 17 Alfa Romeo dealers will also represent Fiat because of the natural fit with their existing businesses.

Although Fiat will launch with one model, there will be a full range of versions, including a diesel variant and although Ateco is being coy about its pricing plans for the Fiat, it has made it clear that the prices will be highly competitive and the Australian Grande Punto will be fully equipped to match its rivals. "As well as making it clear that we would hold off a Fiat launch until we had the right product and pricing, we have also said that we want this to be a long term return," says Mr Stone. "That means it must be a successful and profitable business for both ourselves and the dealers. Fiat owners have to know that we are here with Fiat for the long term and their cars will be supported for their full lives. This means Grande Punto will be priced and equipped to succeed in Australia, not just trading on its name and Italian heritage of style and performance. That said, the versions we plan to bring to Australia in June will be both special and unique, offering levels of style and performance simply not seen in this market sector," says Mr Stone.
 

""As for what the prices and specifications are, everyone will have to wait for the launch in June!" Stone added. The Grande Punto will sit at the premium or prestige end of the small car sector, along with its European and Japanese rivals. While it will share dimensions and engine sizes with the lower end of this sector, it is ideally positioned for the shift seen in the Australian car market of the past 18 months which has seen buyers moving into smaller cars, but not willing to give up the style, equipment and performance that has, in the past, been the preserve of larger cars.

"Fiat has an unrivalled reputation for designing the best small cars in the world," says David Stone. "That reputation is built on such cars as the Topolino, the Fiat 600, the Panda and the first generation Punto. All of these remarkable cars shared a common theme of being not just superb value for money, but also brilliant driving machines with remarkable interior space for their external dimensions and that were classless in their appeal. The Grande Punto takes this to a new level. It has all the features and equipment of larger cars, along with their performance and its styling has been described as a mini-Maserati. Praise doesn't come much higher than that!"

The positioning of the Grande Punto makes it an ideal fit below the Alfa Romeo 147, in price and specification, while attracting a similar customer profile. Fiat customers are expected to be young, equally split between male and female, looking for a distinctive, different style of car that offers more than just transport, but which at the same time has no price drawbacks. "The return of Alfa Romeo just over seven years ago changed the Australian car market and gave cars buyers a product that was and is decisively different from its rivals," says Mr Stone. "In 2006 we plan to make Fiat have the same effect and we suggest anyone who is thinking of a new small car in 2006 should wait and see what we will have to offer!"