July was a significant month for Fiat Automòveis, the strategically-important Brazilian arm of Fiat Auto, as it not only celebrated its 30th anniversary, but the 9,000,000th vehicle also left the production lines of its huge Betim-located assembly plant.

Fiat Automòveis is Fiat Auto's most important manufacturing operations centre outside Italy. Last year it accounted for almost 30 percent of its total worldwide production and with the large facility at Betim, located in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, again looking towards another record year in terms of output, this contribution is expected to grow further during 2006. Inaugurated on 9th July 1976, Betim celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, and at the same time it celebrated building its 9 millionth vehicle. The company's anniversary has been commemorated over the last month by a series of artistic, cultural and sporting events, as well as by a "30 anos" special options pack available for the best-selling Palio (hatchback) and Siena (saloon) models which - as well as sporting new dedicated decals - includes equipment such as climate control, electric windows and DVD/MP3 player as standard.

July was another record sales month for Fiat Automòveis as it continued to lead the Brazilian new vehicle market with a total of 40,831 units registered giving it at 25.8 percent overall market share, again putting it ahead of its major automotive rivals: General Motors and Volkswagen. It built on June's sales figures when 29,608 new vehicles placed it at the top again. Fiat Automòveis has now sold 241,951 new vehicles this year, 24.8 pct of the total number registered in Brazil, and more than 21,000 ahead of GM. The "Project World Car" Palio model continues to lead the market, with the "Mille Fire" (a restyled Uno) proving the Brazilian car buyer's "entry level" vehicle of choice.
 

Last month Fiat Automòveis announced a "Model Year" upgrade for the Palio and Siena models, carried out by Giorgetto Giugiaro, which sees the two cars receiving detailing and styling enhancements, and new equipment levels. Fiat Automòveis are also very well positioned to cope with the growing local market demand for "dual fuel" vehicles, which now account for the majority of new car purchases, with the "FlexFuel" format now being extended to the popular and efficient 1.0-litre FIRE engine, and the new "TetraFuel" Siena arriving on the market and breaking new technological ground. Also selling well is the locally-assembled C-segment Stilo, a former Brazilian "Car of the Year" Award winner.

Betim in fact turn out 48,755 new vehicles last month as it topped the 9 million production mark. By the end of July 9,001,734 vehicles had been built at the plant, with 30 percent (2.7 million units) of these having been destined for export, mainly to the rest of South America, although niche vehicles such as the Strada pick-up are shipped across the world from Betim. July's sales figures were up 11.7 pct on the previous month, and for the year to date total production is up 7.7 pct compared to the first seven months of 2005. In July the Palio as usual led the way with 15,246 units registered while the Strada pick-up, also subject to a recent restyling exercise, dominated the compact utility segment with 3,565 unit sales.