During
September, and for
the eighth consecutive month, Fiat consolidated its
position as the best selling automotive brand in Brazil,
while for the first time since it arrived on the market
a decade ago the Palio hatchback topped its category.
It has been a very rosy year for Fiat Automòveis, the
autonomous Brazilian manufacturing arm of Fiat Auto,
with market-leading sales figures being reported and
ever-increasing vehicle production from their giant
Betim factory. And just as the Brazilian operation -
Fiat's biggest manufacturing centre outside of Italy -
celebrates 30 years of building cars and the 9,000,000th
vehicle rolling off the production lines, came the news
last week that car exports to Europe will resume once
more. They ceased during the 1990s.
September saw Fiat Automòveis recording record domestic
sales, with 39,931 vehicle registrations, well ahead of
General Motors in second place (35,248 units) and
Volkswagen who were third (30,426). Ford Motor Co, in
fourth place (with 16,846 registrations) are well adrift
of the traditional "big three" who dominate the
Brazilian market. Toyota were the fifth best-selling
brand during September (6,034 units), while Peugeot
(5,495 units) and Honda (5,386 units) were in sixth and
seventh place.
For the year-to-date Fiat Automòveis have now sold
326,978 vehicles on the Brazil market, with General
Motors in second place (291,451 units) and VW very close
behind in third (288,377 units). Ford are fourth
(146,313 units) while Honda (48,481 units) are fifth,
just 21 vehicles ahead of sixth placed Toyota.
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The evergreen Fiat Mille (9,535 units) continues to
sell very robustly, especially now it is available
with the popular "dual fuel" 1.0-litre Flex engine. |
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Last month was highly significant for Fiat
Automòveis as - for the first time since it was
launched on the Brazilian ten years ago - the Fiat
Palio hatchback topped its market segment in terms
of unit sales. |
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Last month was also highly significant for Fiat Automòveis
as - for the first time since it was launched on the
Brazilian ten years ago - the Fiat Palio hatchback topped
its market segment in terms of unit sales. The Palio in fact
sold 14,635 units in September, comfortably beating the
traditional sector leader, the VW Gol, which shifted 14,093
units. In third place last month was the Chevrolet Celta,
with 12,868 units sold. It was followed by the evergreen
Fiat Mille (9,535 units), which continues to sell very
robustly, especially now it is available with the popular
"dual fuel" 1.0-litre Flex engine. Then came the Chevrolet
Corsa sedan (8,485 units) and the VW Fox (7,907 units). The
VW Gol is still the segment leader though for the
year-to-date, with 134,384 units sold. The Palio meanwhile
accounts for 110,370 units sold between January and
September.
Fiat also had good news in the light commercial vehicle
segment last month as the robust and newly facelifted Strada
pick-up held onto the top spot for the second consecutive
month, selling 3,383 units, compared to its closest rival,
the Ford EcoSport, of which 3,238 units were shifted.
by Claudio Perlini
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